Reconnecting With The Team
by 77Xfire
Summary: After vanishing for an extended period of time, Sonic finally returns, and how has to play catchup with his closest friends. But is he prepared to find out exactly how much changed during his extended absence?
1. Prologue

**Hey, miss me?**

**Yup, the mystery franchise that I was teasing these past couple of months is in fact the Sonic the Hedgehog series!… however… this isn't that story.**

**Yeah, I started having a bit (ok a lot) of trouble with writing that story, so I kinda just put it off for a while. I am kinda just writing this one to try and get back into writing, especially with these characters, also to hold you guys over a bit until that story is done.**

**I guess I can also mention that, seeing as there are many universes with this franchise, this series will take place in the IDW comic universe… which may be the game universe as well, not entirely sure about that quite yet. The other series I am working on takes place in the Archie universe, in particular, it will be focusing on the timeline that the 25 years later arcs take place in. It is just gonna be me trying to theorize how a couple of things that happened in that timeline that never really got explained… It's going to be a long story btw, which is part of why it is taking so long. Legit, some chapters are longer than most of my stories I have written so far. That thing is a MONSTER! So look forward to it!**

**Any-who, this story is honestly something I came up with in the car the other day, there have been multiple stories where this kind of thing happens, and everything just goes wrong because of it, so I thought I would mix it up a bit. In case it isn't obvious however, this story is not done yet, so updates won't be consistent, especially since I have an actual job now. That being said, I will try to update it as often as possible.**

**All right, now that that is all done, please enjoy this short prologue, with chapter 1 releasing tomorrow afternoon!**

* * *

**Prologue**

**Angel Island, present day**

Not too long after what had been dubbed the "Metal Virus incident", Sonic and friends were currently engaged in a heated battle with the evil Dr. Eggman, who was currently attempting to steal the Master Emerald. Things were going well for the heroes, while Eggman did power up his machine with the power of all the Chaos Emeralds, which he received from his associate, the currently missing Dr. Starline, Knuckles was able to nullify their power with the Master Emerald, though only for a short time.

That short time proved to be all that was needed, as Sonic and Tails was then able to make short work of the machine using a rolling combo attack. The machine collapsed, and Eggman was defeated.

At least, that is what they thought.

When the heroes let their guard down, the Chaos Emeralds regained their power, and Eggman was able to quickly swat Tails away, as he was attempting to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds from the destroyed machine.

"TAILS!" Sonic yelled out as he sped over and caught his best friend. When Sonic got a good look at him, he was relieved to see that he was still conscious, but his injuries meant that he was most certainly out of the rest of the fight. And that, made him angry.

Without warning, Sonic placed Tails on the ground against a tree, and sped towards Eggman at top speed, tackling the machine with all of his might.

Then the machine began to glow.

Turns out, all of the damage that the machine took thus far had completely messed up the power regulators that Eggman put into place to handle the power of the Emeralds, and Sonic's tackle was the final straw, as the energy of the Emeralds began leaking out, causing both the machine, as well as Sonic, to be engulfed in a blinding light.

When the light faded, they were both gone.

"…Sonic?!"

* * *

**?**

Knuckles was currently gliding away from Angel Island. He has promised an associate of his that they would go on a treasure hunt that day, and he had been looking forward to it. That is, until the Master Emerald called for him.

"Huh?" Knuckles said. "That's strange, it's been so long since the Master Emerald called for me… this can't be good."

Deciding that his friend would probably understand the situation, he quickly turned around and returned to the island. When he approached the island, he noticed that a blinding light was shining on the northern end of the island.

"Isn't that the same spot where…" Knuckles then sped up, hoping to find the source of this light. When he got there, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Sonic?!"

Indeed, Sonic was laying in the center of a newly created crater, completely unconscious.

After approaching the blue hedgehog, and shaking him for a bit, Sonic finally woke up.

"Knuckles? That you?" Sonic said.

"Yeah it's me, what happened to you?" Knuckles asked.

"What do you mean what happened to me? You were there weren't you?" Sonic asked. He then finally got a good look at his friend, and he immediately knew that something was wrong.

Knuckles looked… well, different. While he _was_ mostly the same as he remembered, the Echidna was now noticeably taller, and had several scars littered across his body.

"Wait… are you really Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

"I did say yes to that already, didn't I?" Knuckles replied snarkly.

"What happened to you?!" Sonic asked. "You look different from a couple of minutes ago!"

"… A couple of minutes ago?" Knuckles asked.

"Uh, yeah! You hit your head during the fight or something?"

"Sonic, I don't know how to tell you this but uh… you went missing for a while after that fight." Knuckles explained.

"Oh, really?" Sonic asked. "That's weird, last thing I remember is charging into Eggman after Tails…"

Then he remembered what happened to Tails.

"IS TAILS ALRIGHT?!" Sonic suddenly yelled.

Normally, Knuckles would be quite angered by being yelled at in the face, but he was starting to understand what exactly was going on.

"He's fine, more than fine really." Knuckles explained. "He recovered from that fight a while ago."

"Ok… ok that's good." Sonic said. "So… you said I went missing for a while, right?"

"Uh, yeah? Why do you ask?" Knuckles responded

"Well... I was wondering how long exactly." Sonic asked.

"Oh not too long, just about say... fifteen years..." Knuckles answered.

…

…

…

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

**End of Prologue**

* * *

**Sorry for the shorty, but hey, this is only the prologue.**

**Welp, Sonic is stuck in a weird situation isn't he, being sent fifteen years into the future. A lot can change in that amount of time, let's just hope he is ready to find out exactly what did change for him.**

**I am going to be doing things a bit differently with this story. Each chapter will be centered around a specific character. That is to say that they aren't going to be the ONLY character (aside from Sonic) that will appear in each chapter.**

**That being said, in case this isn't obvious, Knuckles will be the first character on the list!**

**So, I will see you tomorrow, for Knuckles.**

**… ****Oh, there is one little thing about this story that is kinda important, but that won't come into play for a couple of chapters ;)**


	2. Knuckles

**Guess I should mention before this starts, in this story, everyone is about 2 years older than they would be in canon, for example, Tails was 10 at the time that Sonic disappeared… what? My story, my rules.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Knuckles**

Sonic just stared at Knuckles in shock. Did he mishear that? Did he really disappear for a whole fifteen years?!

Eventually, he managed to find his voice.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"Ow! Warn me the next time you do that!" Knuckles said, flinching from the sudden yelling. He then jumped when Sonic suddenly grabbed him.

"That was a joke right?! It was only a couple of days, right?!" Sonic asked.

"Sorry Sonic, but it I wasn't lying."

"Holy… wow… that would mean that you're…"

"About Thirty-Three years old now, yes." Knuckles responded.

"Wow… no wonder why you look so different now…" Sonic said, finally connecting the dots. "Wait a minute… what happened to Eggman?!" He suddenly asked.

"He disappeared with you. Haven't seen him since that day…" Knuckles responded. "That being said… since you're back, that might also mean that he is back…"

"Wait, you mean you didn't see him when you found me?" Sonic asked.

"Nope, only you. The Emeralds aren't here either." Knuckles said, earning a confused look from Sonic. "The Emeralds also disappeared with you."

"Ok… so let's talk about that. How exactly did I get here… or… to this time?" Sonic asked.

"Well, Silver would know the most about this kind of thing, but maybe the release of all that Chaos Emerald energy triggered Chaos Control, and sent you to the future… which would now be, the present." Knuckles theorized.

"Ok, makes sense. I think I remember Silver mentioning that time travel might be possible using the Emeralds."

"Well, we know that one of them can stop time, so I guess time travel using all seven wasn't too far outside of the realm of possibility." Knuckles said.

"Ok, so now that we know what happened, we can send me back right? We just need to find the Emeralds again, and use Chaos Control again." Sonic said.

Knuckles then thought about it for a minute, before giving his response. "While that may be true… it is probably not the best idea to just send you back."

"Wait, really? Why do you say that?" Sonic asked.

"Well, what if Eggman is here too? We can't just send you back and leave him here now, can we?" Knuckles said.

"Ooooooh… Ok, that's a good point." Sonic conceded. "So, we need to find the Emeralds and Eggman, and then send the two of us back along with the Emeralds, piece of cake!"

"Right, but that is probably going to take a while… soooo…" Knuckles said.

"What?"

"Well, it's been a while, so maybe you should go and see all of your friends?" Knuckles suggested. "I mean, I am sure they would all be happy to see you."

"Yeah, I guess catching up with everyone wouldn't be too bad of an idea. I am kinda curious what everyone is up to nowadays…" Sonic said, looking at Knuckles expectingly.

"What?"

"So, what have you been up to these past… fifteen years?" Sonic asked, still feeling a bit weirded out about the whole time travel thing.

"Oh, well, after you and Eggman disappeared, I went back to guarding the Master Emerald. I am happy to say that no-one has been able to steal it since that day." Knuckles started.

"There you go! I knew you would pull yourself together eventually!" Sonic said.

"No you didn't." Knuckles responded flatly.

"Hey, I am trying to be the proud friend here, don't ruin it!" Sonic said defensively.

Knuckles just rolled his eyes. "Anyways, after a couple of years, I decided that there weren't really any threats to the Master Emerald anymore, so I decided to go out treasure hunting a lot more often. I was actually on my way to meeting with my hunting partner to explore some cave in the mystic ruins." Knuckles explained.

"Wait, you partnered up with someone? Who?!" Sonic asked.

"Before you get ahead of yourself, it isn't THAT kind of partnership, and believe it or not, it's Tangle." Knuckles answered.

"Really? Huh, I guess that makes sense. She did always seem to like adventuring. I guess treasure hunting was up her alley!" Sonic said.

"Yeah, we do donate a lot of our findings to Jewel's museum, but it is a good time." Knuckles said. "Anyways, other than that uh…" Knuckles said, before turning a bit red.

"Oh? Don't tell me the big tough guardian settled down with someone!" Sonic said.

"Well, we aren't married yet, but I am engaged now…" Knuckles explained. "Engaged with… uh…"

"Come on, out with it!" Sonic said, waiting in anticipation.

"With Rouge, I am engaged with Rouge."

"Oh ho! You and Rouge huh? Who could of seen that one coming?" Sonic said with a smirk.

"Oh shut up, you were the one who asked!" Knuckles yelled angrily.

"I know, I just wanted to hear you say it." Sonic said.

"… Was it really that obvious that we would end up together?" Knuckles asked.

"Not really, but I always had a feeling that there would be something between you two. Congrats by the way!" Sonic said.

"Thanks, if you are still around, you are more then welcome to come to the wedding." Knuckles said.

"Would that of changed if I was around this whole time?" Sonic asked.

"Not really, but I thought you would like to hear it."

"Well, you are right about that. If I am not around by that time though, I will still be there… you know, with me going back in time and all." Sonic said.

"… Gosh this time travel thing is confusing… Guess I should leave that kind of thing to Silver, huh?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, that would be for the best." Sonic said. "So, anything else?"

"Nope, that is about it for me. I could tell you what everyone else has been up to, but I don't want to spoil the surprises." Knuckles said. "Let's just say, a LOT has happened."

"Oh great, I guess that I should go and see everyone then!" Sonic said. "Tails is probably a good start, he still living in Central City?"

"Yeah, his house is a bit bigger now, but it is in the same place. You can't miss it." Knuckles answered.

"Great! So uh… how exactly do you think I should go about getting off the island?" Sonic asked, pointing towards the ocean that the island was currently floating over.

"Good question… Oh! I got an idea!" Knuckles said before pulling out a communicator and calling someone. "Hey, it's me. Can you come to Angel Island for me? I need a favor… sorry, don't want to spoil the surprise! Ok, see you soon." He said before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Sonic asked.

"Your ride, she was nearby thankfully, so she should be here in a couple of minutes." Knuckles said.

Sure enough, after about five minutes, which was more than enough time for Sonic to do a quick lap around the island, what appeared to be a hover bike landed near the shrine of the Master Emerald. When Sonic got a look at the rider's face, his face went up in a grin.

"Hello Sonic, this is a surprise."

"Hey Whisper!"

**End of Chapter 1**

* * *

**Did you guys really think I would not be doing any kind of shipping in this? Don't worry though, most of the pairings will be the more popular ones. Honestly, I don't really care too much for Knuckles and Rouge pairing. Heck, there are very few pairings in this series I really care too much about. They are just here to add a bit of development for the characters… well, all of this is true except for ONE pairing. It is, from what I can see, a bit of a rare pair, and I am still not too sure about it myself, however, it will be good for a certain thing I want to do towards the end of this story. You will know it when I get to it.**

**Anyways, a lot has happened with Knuckles, he is now free to treasure hunt more often, has a good friendship and partnership with Tangle of all characters, something I felt would be kinda neat, considering Tangle's love for adventure, and Knuckles being a treasure hunter when he not guarding the Master Emerald, and finally, he is engaged to Rouge… somehow. Will I explain how that happened? Maybe, maybe not. Stay tuned.**

**On top of that, Eggman and the Chaos Emeralds are still MIA. Meaning that Sonic is stuck in this time until they are found.**

**Some may think that Sonic might be a bit too interested in what his friends have been up to, but I think this is fine for one reason, and that is simple, he just found out that he traveled fifteen years into the future, who wouldn't want to know what their friends have been up to in that time? So, I think his curiosity is justified.**

**Anyways, as you can probably tell, Whisper is next! They will be traveling together to Central City, where Sonic plans on seeing Tails. But what is the lone wolf (ha) of the team been up to? Find out next time! Later!**


	3. Whisper

**Whisper**

"Hey Whisper!" Sonic said, happy to see one of his newer friends, though he was surprised to see that Whisper didn't flinch from his volume.

"So, I suppose this is the surprise you mentioned?" Whisper said, looking towards Knuckles.

"Yeah, he just kinda popped up a little while ago. Turns out he time traveled, who would of guessed?" Knuckles responded.

"Well, Tails said it was always a possibility, but we had no way of knowing when he would appear again. He could of traveled hundreds of years into the future after all." Whisper responded, earning a shutter from Sonic.

"Yeah, don't want to think of THAT possibility…" Sonic said.

"Sorry I brought it up then." Whisper said. "So, what was this favor you wanted from me?"

"Sonic needs a ride off of the island, figured that you would be the best bet, with that new toy of yours." Knuckles said, pointing to Whisper's hover bike. "That won't be an issue, right?"

"Of course not. I would be happy to help." Whisper said. "Got a place you want to go in mind?"

"Central City, want to see what everyone has been up to, and I figured that seeing Tails would be a good place to start." Sonic said, earning Whisper's attention.

"I don't suppose that Knuckles told you anything about what everyone has been doing to you, has he?" Whisper asked.

"Only stuff about what he has been up to, I guess Tangle too, with their whole treasure hunting team up that they have going on right now." Sonic answered.

"Oh, well I won't spoil the surprise." Whisper said.

"Knuckles said the same thing, now come on! Let's get going!" Sonic said before jumping onto the bike.

"Just one more thing Sonic." Knuckles said. "Like I said, Eggman disappeared the same time that you did, that much is common knowledge at this point. That means that if people see you just running around, it won't take long for people to figure out that Eggman might be back too. If that happens, then people might start to panic." He explained.

"Ok, so you think that I should lay low for a while?" Sonic asked.

"I am not saying that you should stick to alleys or anything, but try and be a bit careful. And don't do anything reckless either." Knuckles explained.

"Got it."

"It was good seeing you again Knuckles." Whisper said before hopping on her bike.

"Tell everyone I said hey!" Knuckles said as the two took off.

And with that, they were off. When they were over the ocean however, Knuckles took out his communicator and sent the most cryptic message to Tails he could think of at the time.

"Do me a favor and take a picture of it for me please?"

* * *

"So…" Sonic started.

"Hmm?"

"I AM going around to see what everyone has been up to these past fifteen years, and I have you right here, so how about you tell me about what you have been doing?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, nothing much." Whisper said. "A couple of years after you disappeared, I was invited to join G.U.N."

"Wait really? Did you accept the offer?"

"I did, I have been working with them to keep the peace." Whisper said. "Other than Rouge, I am their best when it comes to undercover missions."

"That's good to hear. Although, I thought that you weren't great with crowds, how did that change?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I guess a bit of Tangle rubbed off on me." Whisper said.

"Oh yeah, the two of you are still good friends?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, those two are the closest friends that I have right now." Whisper responded, referring to Jewel as well.

"That's good to hear…" Sonic said. "You know, you never DID get to tell me that one joke about the toaster."

**CRASH **

"Uh… what was that?" Sonic asked.

"Trouble, get ready for some action." Whisper said as she took her bike in for a landing.

When they landed, Sonic noticed two things, one was that they were in Green Hill, and the second was that there were badniks and super badniks all over the place.

"Wait, I thought that Eggman disappeared with me! Why are there badniks still around?" Sonic asked.

"Eggman may have disappeared, but Starline didn't." Whisper explained.

"I see, so he came back, huh?" Sonic asked.

Whisper nodded. "Turns out he was stuck on the Lost Hex for a while. When he came back, he pretty much took over the Eggman Empire, though he was a much less… effective leader." Whisper explained. "He isn't too much of a threat, but we can't let our guard down around him."

"Gotcha… so uh… how exactly are you going to fight these things?" Sonic asked. "It doesn't look like you have your wispon on you…"

Tangle didn't give Sonic a verbal response, and simply pushed a button on her bike, transforming the vehicle into her variable wispon.

"Ok, that is cool!" Sonic said.

"Tails sometimes likes to give it some upgrades when I see him. That was the most recent one." Whisper said.

"I am guessing that you had your green wisp friend help it to fly?" Sonic asked.

"Correct, the others also have different effects, but I will let that be a surprise." Whisper said.

"Well then, shall we?" Sonic said, gesturing towards the robots.

The two of them then charged into what Sonic thought would surely be a tough fight…

He was wrong. Terribly so.

As it turns out, Dr. Starline wasn't that good when it came to creating death machines, and the badniks didn't receive any upgrades in the fifteen years that Sonic was absent. In fact, they seemed to be even less threatening now. That, coupled with the revelation that Metal Sonic was incapacitated and in G.U.N. custody, meant that Dr. Starline's army was not much of a threat.

"Huh, guess this is why Knuckles said that there wasn't much of a threat to the Master Emerald anymore, if this is the worst thing he has to deal with…" Sonic said.

"That being said though, he is a slippery one thanks to that warp topaz of his." Whisper explained. "Anyways, I should probably return to G.U.N. and report what happened here. Don't worry though, I won't tell anyone that you were here, I am sure you want to surprise Shadow and Rouge."

"Thanks Whisper, for that, and for the ride." Sonic said.

"You're welcome. Tell Tails I said hi." Whisper said before hopping onto her bike, which became infused with the cyan wisp, and shot off into the distance like a laser.

"Ok, now that was cool." Sonic said before speeding off in the direction of Central City. "Alright Tails, hope you are ready for the surprise of your life!"

**End of Chapter 2**

* * *

**As you can probably tell, not much changed with Whisper. Compared to Tangle and the rest of the cast, we know very little about her right now after all. That being said, Tangle and Whisper issue 3 is coming soonish, and that is going to have some of her backstory in it apparently, so that is something. I didn't want to do nothing with her though, so I ended up deciding that she would make a good fit on the G.U.N. team, and went with that route for her. The bike wispon was just a neat idea that I had earlier, and figured that I would include it. Not sure if I am going to include the other wisp effects on the bike, but we will see. Also, she seems to of opened up a lot more thanks to Tangle and her other friends. So that's nice.**

**We also found out what happened to Dr. Starline, Metal Sonic, and the Eggman Empire as a whole in this chapter… yeah, they are not a threat anymore.**

**Anyways, Tails is next… and that is gonna be a big one. Probably the biggest one yet. This is Sonic's closest friend/younger brother after all. Prepare yourselves, cause things have been… tame so far compared to what I have planned for Tails.**

**So, I will see you soon for the Tails chapter.**

**… ****Wait, what did Knuckles want Tails to take a picture of?**


	4. Tails

**Remember how I said last time that everything so far has been tame compared to what I had in mind for Tails? I wasn't kidding. Enjoy this chapter that is about as long as all the previous chapters combined!**

* * *

**Tails**

When Sonic finally arrived in Central City, he quickly ran up the side of a nearby building to avoid being seen. Once he reached the top, he got a good look just how much the city had changed.

First of all, the city grew quite a bit, there were now many more buildings than there was before. Second, the technology in the city appeared to be a lot more advanced… not that he really understood what any of the new stuff was or what it did, but he could tell that there were a lot of upgrades.

Satisfied with his view, he began running again, hoping from rooftop to rooftop on his way to Tails' house. On his way there though, one of the buildings he was standing on began to shake as a plume of smoke began to rise nearby.

Quickly regaining his bearings, Sonic made his way over to the smoke to see what was going on. He had to take a detour though, in order to remain on the rooftops.

When he got there, he discovered that the source of the smoke was a bank, which was currently being robbed. The robbers were currently loading their loot into the getaway car, and Sonic was able to get a good look at them.

"The Hooligans? Those guys are still around?" Sonic said, watching as Nack, Bean and Bark began driving away. "Guess they went from mercenaries to common thieves."

Sonic was now in a sticky situation, he couldn't let The Hooligans just get away, but he also did promise Knuckles that he would try and stay hidden, and jumping out into broad daylight to fight crime isn't the best way to do that.

Eventually though, his heroic heart won over, and he was getting prepared to jump in and save the day.

That is, until a yellow ball of energy flew into the car, blowing it up.

After the smoke cleared, Sonic could see Nack raising to his feet.

"Alright, who's the wise guy?!" He yelled out.

"You know, I was wondering what happened to you guys. Guess you haven't been having the best luck with finding work, huh?" Said a familiar voice, causing Sonic to smile.

A little ways down the road, wielding his old arm cannon, stood Tails, who, to Sonic's amazement, looked very different to what he remembered. The obvious thing was that he was now a lot taller, now being a good foot taller than Sonic, on top of that, the hair on his head was now a good bit longer, with some now hanging off the back of his head. A good bit of his ears now had a slight brown coloring to them too. He was also wearing what appeared to be a lab coat. But most of all, he just seemed to ooze with confidence now, something that made Sonic as happy as could be.

"Oh hey! It's the little yellow dude! Something's different about him… did he do something with his hair?" Bean said.

"… He's not little anymore Bean…" Nack said.

"Oooooooh… that was my third guess!" Bean said.

"I am going to give you guys one chance, give up and turn yourselves in, or I will put you all in a world of hurt." Tails said, getting ready to fight.

"HA! You and what army?" Nack asked.

"Actually, I think it is you that needs the army." Tails quipped back.

"Alright wise guy, let's see how you handle THIS!" Nack said before pulling out his gun and firing a couple of bullets.

Tails then pulled something out of his coat pocket, and suddenly a barrier was forming around him, blocking the bullets. Tails then sped towards the trio at blinding speed. He had gotten a lot faster. He wasn't quite as fast as Sonic yet, but the speed increase was definitely noticeable. When he reached Nack, he quickly grabbed the weasel's arm, and slammed him to the ground, disarming him in the process. As he was doing this, Bark started winding up a punch from behind. Tails saw this coming however, and used his namesakes to grab Bark's arm and began spinning him around rapidly, before sending him flying towards Bean, who was currently lighting one of his bombs, which then exploded, knocking the two of them out.

When the smoke cleared, the crowd that had gathered gave Tails a round of applause, this included Sonic, who was still on the rooftop.

Shortly after, the police arrived, and Tails turned the three in, before flying off somewhere in a hurry.

Deciding to follow Tails, Sonic began running again, though he was careful as to not get seen by his friend. He was curious as to where the fox was going, seeing as how he was currently traveling away from his house, after all.

Eventually, Tails landed in a park in the north end of the city. When he got there, Sonic leapt down from the roof and into an alley, and began listening as Tails began talking to someone.

"Thanks for watching him. I couldn't just not go." Tails said.

"Don't worry about it, just be thankful that I was passing by on my break." Said a somewhat familiar voice, though Sonic couldn't quite figure out who it was. "Well, I should probably be getting back, I will see you two soon!"

"Bye-bye!" Said a new, clearly young voice.

And with that, Sonic could hear the footsteps of the mystery friend as she walked away. When she was gone, Sonic got a good look at the park. When he saw that, aside from Tails and one child that was playing in a sand box, the park seemed to be completely empty. Seeing this as the best chance he had, Sonic began to approach.

—

Tails was sitting on the bench of the park, watching as the young child he was watching was playing by himself. There were plenty of families here before he left to deal with The Hooligans, but they were gone now.

"I guess all the commotion made them decide to leave…" Tails said to himself. He was going to get ready to leave himself, but he decided instead to sit and reflect for a while. That fight reaffirmed that he had come a long way over the past fifteen years, but he still had his doubts.

"I wonder if Sonic would be proud of me if he saw that…" Tails said to himself.

"Do you really have to ask that? I feel like you should know the answer." Said a voice from behind him, making him jump.

When Tails turned around, he saw the grinning face of his best friend… the same best friend who had been missing for the past fifteen years…

"…No…" Tails sighed out.

"Uh… no?" Sonic asked, unsure as to why Tails said that.

"Why do some people still insist on doing this?" Tails asked. "Ok, what are you, a hologram?" He said as he put a hand on Sonic's chest. "No, so a machine made to look like him." Tails said as he pulled something out of his pocket.

"… uh… is that supposed to do something bud?" Sonic asked.

"That's weird, this usually works on machines…" Tails said.

"Maybe it's not working because I'm not a machine?" Sonic suggested.

"Ok… so if you are not a hologram or a machine, then what are you?" Tails asked.

"Uh… Your older brother…?" Sonic said.

"But… that's not possible… you're…" Tails said. "You're… Is… is it really you?" Tails said, voice filled with hope.

"Yeah, it's me bud, good to see you." Sonic said, arms held out for a hug.

Tails just looked at him for a moment, before suddenly embracing his long lost friend, as tears began to pour out of his eyes. "I-I thought that you were dead!" He said. "You just vanished, and no-one could find you and… and…"

"Shhh, just let it all out." Sonic said.

After about a minute, the two finally separated.

"Sorry about that, guess all the emotions that I had been bottling up just kinda… let itself out just now." Tails said as he wiped a couple of tears away.

"It's cool, I probably would of been the same way." Sonic said, wiping away some of his own tears.

"So, what happened to you?" Tails asked.

"Time travel, turns out that the Chaos Emeralds can send you forward, and I assume backwards in time." Sonic explained.

"Huh, I always knew that it was a possibility, but I never thought it would actually be true." Tails said.

"Yeah, Whisper told me as much." Sonic said.

"Oh, you bumped into Whisper already?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, she actually had to give me a ride off of Angel Island. She and Knuckles say hi by the way." Sonic said.

Tails then began connecting the dots.

_'__So that's what Knuckles meant in his message!' _He thought.

"So, when did you take up babysitting?" Sonic asked.

"Uh… babysitting?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, I thought I heard you talking about watching a kid, and I heard the kids voice, so I figured…" Sonic said. "Wait… if you weren't babysitting, then what were you…"

"Um… excoose me?" Said the same young voice from before.

Sonic then looked down, and finally got a good look at the one kid that was in the park.

A young fox, no older than three, that looked almost exactly like Tails when he was younger. The only major difference being a brown stripe on his tails… both of them.

"Are… are yew Uncle Sawnic?" Said the kit.

"Wh… wha?" Sonic breathed out.

Tails just let out a light chuckle, as he kneeled down.

"Sonic, meet Skye… my son." Tails said.

…

…

…

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

* * *

Meanwhile, on Angel Island.

Knuckles was currently relaxing by the Master Emerald with Rouge, who had just come for a visit. He had already informed Tangle about having to cancel their expedition.

"Ok, what's up?" Rouge asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You were really looking forward to today, and you just decided to cancel?" Rouge said.

"The Master Emerald called for me, what I am supposed to do?" Knuckles asked.

"You and I both know that whatever it was that the Master Emerald called you for, you could of gotten done with plenty of time to spare to make it to the expedition. So, what's up?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Knuckles said. He then felt his communicator vibrate. He pulled it out and got a look at what was sent to him, and he started laughing hysterically.

"What?" Rouge asked, reaching for the communicator.

"Oh no, sorry, not spoiling this surprise!" Knuckles said.

"So you were hiding something!" Rouge said before leaping at Knuckles, snatching the device from his hands.

And she was shocked as to what was on the screen.

A picture of Sonic looking incredibly shocked, with the caption "Just told him about Skye."

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Sonic finished, not even noticing Tails taking a picture and sending it to Knuckles. "You… You're a DAD?!"

"Yeah, crazy huh?" Tails said, lifting Skye up onto his shoulders.

"Uh, yeah! I'll say!" Sonic said. "Wait, he called me 'Uncle Sonic'…"

"Yeah, you did just say that you were my older brother, didn't you? Though, I guess right now you're the younger brother?" Tails said.

"I'm… I'm an uncle…" Sonic breathed out.

"Yeah, you are." Tails said.

"I… I need to sit down…" Sonic said before sitting in the nearby bench.

"Is Uncle Sawnic alwight?" Skye asked his father, causing Sonic to breath heavily again, causing Tails to chuckle.

"He's fine, he just needs some time." Tails said. "After all, I was ten the last time we saw each other."

"Where did he gwo?" Sky asked.

"Well, here I guess." Tails responded. "It's… a bit weird."

After a brief pause, Skye nodded his head. "Ok."

Finally, Sonic was able to collect his thoughts. "How long…?"

"About two and a half years now." Tails said. "Been married for just over three though."

"M-M-M-M-M-M" Sonic began stuttering.

"Aaaaaaand I broke him again…" Tails said with a laugh, which Skye joined in on.

"So wait… you got married when you were…" Sonic said

"Just under Twenty Two years old, yeah." Tails said. "I know, kinda young… but when you find that someone in your life… you just kinda… go with it I guess."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Sonic asked.

"To be honest, even I don't know. It just felt… right to get married, so, it just kinda happened." Tails explained. "And honestly, I don't ever want to go back."

"Well, as long as you're happy with it, then so am I!" Sonic said patting Tails on the shoulder. "So… who's the lucky lady?"

"Hmmmmm… Nope, sorry, not telling you!" Tails said before turning around, while Skye started giggling.

"What?! Why not?" Sonic asked.

"Cause I want you to find out for yourself. You are going to stay for dinner, aren't you?" Tails asked.

"Of course!" Sonic said.

"Well, let's get going, I should probably get started on dinner before she gets home." Tails said before walking towards the exit to the park.

"Hold on, Knuckles said that I should lay low for a while… actually, now that I think about it, how come no-one noticed me here yet?" Sonic asked.

"I figured Knuckles would of said something like that, so I got you covered. Don't worry, no-one can see you right now, as long as you stay close to me." Tails said.

"Alright, if you say so…" Sonic responded as he began walking. "So, other than the whole family thing, what else have you been up to?"

"Well, I am still making inventions, I am actually one of the world's leading scientists right now, in charge of creating all sorts of defense systems, robots, you name it!" Tails explained.

"That's great! Always knew you were the smartest guy on the planet, guess this proves it!" Sonic said.

"Thanks, but that's not all. I also try to stay in shape, and keep my skills sharp in case something like that bank robbery earlier happens." Tails explained. "You were watching that, weren't you?"

"Of course! I was actually about to jump in when you showed up. Gotta say, I was really impressed." Sonic said.

"That's good… that makes me really happy." Tails said.

"Yeah, you really improved a lot over the years."

"I kinda had to… even with Eggman gone, there were still a lot of threats to the planet. The Deadly Six, Metal Sonic, Starline… even though he isn't much of a threat anymore… and even more." Tails explained. "Someone needed to step up and take charge, give the people a hero to look up to… and I guess that was me."

"I have to admit, that makes me more proud than you could ever believe." Sonic said, and it was true. He knew that Tails was destined for great things, but the fox just lacked the confidence to actually do it. To see that young fox like this, he couldn't be prouder.

"Thanks Sonic, that… that makes me really happy." Tails said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"So, anything else happen?" Sonic asked, and he was surprised when Tails looked physically nervous as a result. _'What's that all about?'_

"Nothing really, though, I have been working on a super robot lately. One designed to be pretty much an unstoppable defense system." Tails said.

"Oh really? Well, with you working on it, I am sure it will come out great!" Sonic said.

"I hope so…" Tails said.

After a while, the three finally arrived at the house, though Skye did fall asleep on Tails' shoulders along the way. When they got there, Sonic noticed that the place was, in fact, a good bit bigger.

"After Skye was born, we decided that we needed more room, so we expanded a bit." Tails explained.

"I can see that. Looks good!" Sonic said.

"Well, let's go in." Tails said before opening the door.

When they walked in, Tails carefully laid Skye down on the couch so he could continue his nap. Looking at the child, Sonic couldn't shake the feeling that something was bothering him about Skye. Deciding to ignore it for now, he started to take a good look around, trying to find some pictures to find out who exactly Tails' wife is. To his surprise and disappointment, there were none.

"No wedding pictures?" Sonic said as Tails took his lab coat off and placed it on a nearby chair.

"They're upstairs… don't try it." Tails said.

"Oh come oooooonnnnnn, I just want to know who it is!" Sonic said.

"Well you won't have to wait to long, she just messaged me telling me that she is on her way home." Tails said.

"Was she working or something?" Sonic asked.

"I guess you could say that."

"Cool, so, how did you do that anyways?" Sonic asked. "You know, the whole keeping me hidden thing?"

"Oh uh, well… you see…"

Sonic then suddenly grabbed Tails' lab coat from the chair. "And how did you fit all of those devices into this coat's pockets?" Sonic asked. When he reached into the pocket, he was surprised.

There was nothing there. Not the shield generator, not the device he tried to use on Sonic… nothing.

"Uh… where did all that stuff you were using before go?" Sonic asked, and he grew worried when Tails didn't answer. "Tails?"

"Sonic, you should probably sit down for this one…" Tails said, to which Sonic complied. "A couple of days after you disappeared, there was a bit of an accident…"

"An accident? Are you alright?" Sonic asked.

"Oh yeah, I am fine. I guess you can say that I came out of it better than I went into it." Tails said. "But… well… maybe I should just show you."

Tails then raised up a hand, which began to glow a light red. Then a familiar sound rang out, and suddenly a new chair was in the center of the room.

"WHAT HE HECK?!" Sonic said, jumping out of his chair in surprise, waking Skye up in the process.

"So… you remember the Phantom Ruby, right?" Tails asked as he made the chair disappear.

"You… you can use Infinite's power?!" Sonic asked. "How did that happen?!"

"Well, after you disappeared, we went looking for you. While Amy and a few others went searching towns and the various zones, me, Knuckles and and a couple of others went and searched some of Eggman's bases." Tails started. "The first one we went to was one that we had recently discovered. As it turns out, it was the base where Eggman was doing his research on the Phantom Ruby… and where he created Infinite."

"Ok, so how did you…?"

"Well… I got a bit… hasty with some of my actions… made a big mistake… and a machine containing what I guess was the energy from a bunch of Phantom Ruby prototypes blew up in my face." Tails explained. "The energy infused with my body, and I have been able to do this ever since. And before you ask, yes, I did use this to keep you hidden before."

"Ok, but what about those bullets earlier? You can't expect me to believe that the Phantom Ruby's power works on bullets. They don't have minds to trick!" Sonic asked.

"Well, that actually wasn't a shield generator, it was just made to look like one. What really happened was I created an illusion of a shield around me, and while I was hiding behind the illusion, I was actually dodging the bullets!" Tails explained.

"And why would you do that?" Sonic asked.

"I thought it would look cooler." Tails said. "Especially since all I really needed to do was duck."

"… Ok yeah, that did look cool." Sonic admitted.

"Glad to see that you agree." Tails said.

"There is just one more thing that is really bothering me though." Sonic said.

"What's up?" Tails asked.

"With Knuckles and Whisper, barely anything changed, but with you… so much happened!" Sonic explained. "Did you notice that?"

"Yeah, I guess my life was the most eventful out of all of us." Tails said. "Might be because I was the youngest of the group, most room to grow, you know?"

"I guess…" Sonic said.

"So… you aren't upset?" Tails suddenly asked.

"Why would I be?" Sonic asked.

"Infinite used that power to… you know…"

Sonic just smiled. "Listen, what matters is not the power that you have, but what you do with it. Infinite used the power to hurt people, but you use it to help people. That's what really matters." Sonic said while patting Tails on the shoulder.

"Heh, my wife said the same thing." Tails said.

"Really?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I kinda hated this power at first… she was the first one to notice, and she convinced me that it could be a good thing…" Tails explained. "I think that might of been what started it all for us."

"I see, well, I can't wait to meet her." Sonic said.

"You already did, it's just a matter of you finding out who it is." Tails said. "That's the only hint you are getting by the way."

"So, it's someone I know?" Sonic asked. He then got to thinking. His first thought was Cream, but he realized that when Tails was twenty one, she would of been about nineteen, a bit early for marriage. And Tails only mentioned that HE got married young, which probably meant that his wife was older than him. So, while the two of them certainly got along well when they were younger, Cream was out.

His next thought was Amy. While it is still certainly a possibility, the fact that there weren't wedding pictures all over the place told him that it probably wasn't her… either that or she changed a good bit over the past fifteen years.

After a while, he gave up, and decided to wait. And finally, the front door opened.

"Hey! I'm home!" Called a familiar voice. Tails then walked towards the front door.

"You're home early, something happen?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, we had to cancel, he said something important came up and that he couldn't make it." The girl said.

"That sucks, you were looking forward to it too!" Tails said.

"Yeah, I know. Oh well, there is always… next… time…" Said the girl, as her eyes landed on Sonic.

And suddenly, everything made sense to the hedgehog.

Who the girl Tails was talking to back in the park was, and what it was about Skye that was bothering him.

Those weren't stripes on Skye's tails… they were rings.

"SONIC?!"

"TANGLE?!"

**End of Chapter 3**

* * *

**That's a twist, isn't it?**

**I told y'all that there was going to a lot of stuff with Tails, and I wasn't messing around. This is my favorite character after all.**

**So, let's start with the obvious thing. Yes, Tails is married to Tangle and has a kid. Honestly, you might of been able to figure this out if you noticed that I was mentioning Tangle and Tails a lot before this revelation. There are a couple of reasons I did this. One is that I wanted to include a rare pairing for once. I have barely seen anyone pair the two up, even when it is purely platonic, and I feel like the two of them would get along very well, mainly because of the whole tail thing that they have in common. I also really liked the moment in Tails' workshop in chapter 16 of the IDW comics. Also, they are gonna be working together in the upcoming chapter this Wednesday, so there's that. The next reason… will actually be explained much later in the story. There is something I want to do, and it will only work if these two are together. It isn't a big thing by any means, but it will be a fun thing. And finally, for a simple reason… For some reason, in almost every single universe in this franchise, Tails has the most success in his love life than ANYONE! Don't believe me? Archie Sonic: Get's married to a pop star (in one time-line at least). In Sonic X: let's be real, if Cosmo didn't die, they would of probably of gotten together at some point. Even is Sonic Boom there was an entire episode about him getting a girlfriend. THE BOY HAS GAME!… although that whole Fiona fiasco may be some points against him. Oh, and if you think the age difference is weird… Zooey, Tails' girlfriend in Sonic Boom looks to be about Sonic's age, which Tangle is as well, so I think it's fine.**

**Anyways, the next thing I want to talk about is the whole Phantom Ruby thing. There was a fan theory before Sonic Forces came out that was about how Infinite might of been Tails. It was obviously not true, and got debunked really quick… but it stuck with me for a while. There is a story out there that uses this theory very well and I am loving it so far. I don't want to spoil it for anyone though, so I will not be mentioning the name. Shout outs to that dude/dudette, they would probs know who they are (I did leave a review on that fic as a guest recently after all ;) ). Read it if you get the chance, it's good stuff. Anyways, I didn't want to do a story about that myself because well, I felt like I would of been copying that idea. So, I went with including this in this story. It's also good for character growth, so there's that.**

**Next up is the fact that Tails really shaped up to be a great hero! I feel like if something like this were to happen to Sonic, given enough time, Tails would be the one to step up and be the hero and leader that everyone needed. He did it in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, and I feel like he could do it here.**

**Also, I am still learning to write action sequences well, so I hope I did a good job with the Hooligan's fight. Tell me how I did :)**

**Anyways, next time, will be all about **⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ **so look forward to it!**

**…**

* * *

**Three Days After Sonic's disappearance…**


	5. Subchapter 1: The Accident

**Welcome to the first Subchapter! These chapters will be quick stories all about certain events that are mentioned in the main story, but I didn't quite want to elaborate on a lot in those chapters. I waited till now to post the first one because I wanted these to be in chronological order. And since this event takes place 3 days after Sonic disappeared, and it was just mentioned in the Tails chapter, I waited till now to do this. There isn't really a set layout for how the main and sub chapters are going to happen, but I hope to do one ever other chapter. Also, in case you guys wanted me to get to the next main chapter, don't worry, I will have it out tomorrow morning. I did kinda leave you at a cliffhanger after all. So, enjoy!**

* * *

**Subchapter 1: The Accident**

**Three Days After Sonic's Disappearance**

Tails, Knuckles, Tangle, Whisper, and The Chaotix had all gathered to search an old Eggman base that The Restoration had recently discovered. Since Sonic had disappeared, everyone threw around theories as to where he exactly and Eggman went. One of those theories was that Eggman managed to capture Sonic, and was holding him in one of his bases. As such, a team was made to search various Eggman bases for the two of them, while the others traveled the world and searched various cities and zones.

"So, this is the place. Let's hope we find some clues." Tails said as he led the group inside.

Tails' injuries from the fight on Angel Island weren't that severe, so he had already recovered for the most part, with the only real sign of any damage being a bandage on his head.

When they got inside, they saw two paths, as such, they decided to split up, with Knuckles going with the Chaotix down one path, and Tails going with Tangle and Whisper down the other.

A little ways into the base, Tails' group came across what appeared to be some sort of lab. While Tangle and Whisper took a look around, Tails did some digging on a nearby computer.

"Let's see here… oh…" Tails said.

"What's up?" Tangle called over.

"From the looks of things, this place is where Eggman was experimenting with the Phantom Ruby!" Tails revealed.

"The Phantom Ruby?… OH! That thing that Infinite guy used, right?" Tangle said. While she didn't exactly fight in the war, she did hear all about it.

"Yeah, this is probably where Eggman created him." Tails said. "Now, let's see if we… can… find…" Tails stopped talking as he glanced to his right.

Tangle, confused by Tails' action, followed his gaze. And what she saw caught her off guard.

Inside one of the machines was Sonic, just floating there.

"SONIC!" Tails yelled out before rushing over to his friend.

Tangle on the other hand, pulled out a communicator to contact the others. "Good news guys! We found Sonic!"

"Really?! That's great! We will meet you over there right away!" Knuckles said through the communicator.

Tangle then put the communicator away, and just watched as Tails excitingly typed away at the computer, trying to free Sonic.

_'__He was really worried, huh?'_

Whisper then approached Tangle from behind. "You found him… that's good."

"Yeah, Tails seems really happy too, so I say mission accomplished!" Tangle said.

Then, something caught her eye. Behind Whisper, in another machine, was Sonic…

Another Sonic.

And inside a multitude of other machines, were more. Many, many more.

"Wh-what the…?"

Then it hit her, this place was where Eggman was experimenting on the Phantom Ruby. The Ruby was used to trick his enemies minds, make them think something is there, when they weren't.

That meant…

"Oh no…!" Tangle said. "TAILS! GET AWAY FROM-"

"Huh?" Tails said as he turned around, but not before pushing one last key on the keyboard.

And the machine suddenly exploded.

—

Knuckles and The Chaotix all felt the ground shake shortly after they received word from Tangle. Growing worried, Knuckles pulled his communicator back out and called Tangle.

"Tangle? Are you guys ok?!" Knuckles said.

"NO WE ARE NOT!" Tangle yelled through the communicator! "WE WERE TRICKED! TAILS IS…"

"I couldn't hear that last part, what happened to Tails?!" Knuckles said.

"He's… he's not moving! He's hurt really bad! We need you here! NOW!" Tangle said before the communicator cut out.

"What do we do?!" Charmy asked.

"Isn't it obvious?! We get over there!" Vector said before running off.

After a while, the group met up with Whisper and Tangle, the latter of which was currently kneeling on the ground next to Tails.

Tails himself was in terrible shape. There were burn marks all over his fur, and his head was bleeding terribly. There was a bit of cloth wrapped around Tails' head, presumably from Whisper's cloak.

"What happened?!" Knuckles asked as he approached Whisper, making her jump.

"Phantom Ruby energy, made us think that Sonic was here." Whisper explained. "Tried to get him out, machine exploded."

"Ok, got it. Let's focus on getting Tails out of here and get him some medical attention." Knuckles said before scooping Tails up. "Let's go!"

And with that, they were off.

* * *

**Four Days later**

Word of Tails' accident spread like wildfire, and along with it, the fact that Sonic had disappeared.

Tails' condition had been stabilized, to everyone's relief, but he had yet to regain consciousness.

Right now, Tangle and Jewel were in Tails' room for a visit, with Amy having just left to get some food for the three.

"I know that you're blaming yourself." Jewel suddenly said.

"And how would you know that?" Tangle asked.

"I know that because I know you." Jewel said.

"But…" Tangle started, but the look on Jewel's face told her that her friend wasn't going to back down. "… Ok fine, maybe I am."

"You know it isn't your fault that this happened." Jewel said.

"I know that… I just can't help but feel like I could of done more… maybe figured out what was happening quicker, getting him away from the machine before it exploded… something."

This statement was met with a laugh coming from the door. "You know, you and Sonic really are alike."

Tangle and Jewel looked towards the source of the voice, and saw Amy standing there with a tray of food.

"Sonic would be feeling the exact same way as you are right now. He would probably be saying something like 'I was… too slow…' right about now." Amy said. "Then, when Tails wakes up, he would probably say something like…"

"Don't focus on what you couldn't do, and focus on what you can."

"Yeah! Exactly that! Thanks Tails."

…

"TAILS?!"

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Said Tails, who was very much awake.

"Oh thank goodness!" Amy said before rushing to Tails' side. "We were all so worried about you!"

"How…?" Tails said.

"The machine that you were working with exploded… you were in really bad shape." Tangle explained.

"You've been here for about four days now." Jewel added.

"No… how's Sonic?"

The room fell silent.

"Tails… that wasn't Sonic." Tangle explained.

"…Huh?"

"We think that was energy from the Phantom Ruby in those machines, or at least, the prototypes of the Phantom Ruby." Amy explained. "They… they might of just been showing you what you wanted to see, to lure you into a trap."

"So… Sonic's…"

"Still missing, yeah."

Tails laid there silent, until finally, all of his anger and frustration came out in the form of tears, and the three girls in the room quickly went and comforted their friend.

**End of Subchapter 1**

* * *

**Poor Tails, gets hurt thinking that he was freeing his best friend, only to find out that his best friend was never there. Must suck.**

**Yeah, not EVERYTHING in these stories is going to be super happy, positive vibes. There's going to be some angst, and that is going to be continuing into the next Subchapter. Heck, a lot of the angst is gonna be in the Subchapters.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and see you in the morning for Tangle's chapter!**


	6. Tangle

**Tangle**

"TANGLE?!" Sonic yelled out.

Tangle then suddenly leaped at the hedgehog, and put him into a choke hold. "Ok! Who sent or made you?!"

Struggling to breath, Sonic tried to give the best response he could think of. "What are you talking about?!"

"This isn't the first time someone had the bright idea of sending a Sonic look-alike to try and get Tails killed!" Tangle explained. "So! Who did it?! Starline? The Deadly Six?! WHO?!"

"Tangle! Calm down!" Tails said. "It's the real Sonic!"

"Tails, I know that you still miss Sonic, but we both know that he… well…" Tangle said.

"Tangle, just let us explain… besides…" Tails said motioning towards Skye. "You're scaring him."

Skye then went over to Tangle. "Mommy? Why awe you hurting Uncle Sawnic?"

Tangle just looked at the young fox, and after a moment, let Sonic go.

"Sorry for scaring you Skye… mommy just wants to make sure you and daddy are safe." Tangle said while rubbing her sons head. "So, if really ARE Sonic, where were you all this time?… And why do you still look like a teenager?"

Sonic and Tails then went into a detailed explanation as to what happened, with Sonic also explaining the plan to get back home.

"Ok, so you traveled through time, and ended up on Angel Island earlier today. On top of that, the Chaos Emeralds and Eggman are still missing, so we need to find both of those before you can go back?" Tangle asked. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nope, that pretty much sums it all up." Sonic said.

"… Alright, I guess I will believe you… for now." Tangle said. "But I got my eye on you 'Sonic', make one false move, and you will be put into a world of hurt!"

"Duly noted." Sonic said. "So… how exactly did THIS happen?!" He said, gesturing towards the two.

"Well, how much did Tails tell you?" Tangle asked.

"Just that you helped him with that whole Phantom Ruby thing." Sonic said. "Heck, I didn't know it was you until you walked through the door."

"Ok, so lets see…" Tangle said, before being interrupted by a couple of stomaches growling. "… Really?"

"Hey! I had to run all the way from Green Hill to here! That's not exactly a short distance!" Sonic said in his defense.

"And I had to go stop a bank robbery! That kind of thing makes me hungry!" Tails said before realizing his mistake.

"Oh? Well then, why don't you make some dinner? And in the meantime, you can tell me all about how you went to fight crime when you were supposed to be watching our son!" Tangle said with a death glare.

"It was fine! Jewel was in the area and was more than happy to watch him for me!" Tails said.

"And if she wasn't?!" Tangle said.

"Uh…" Tails said before looking to Sonic with a face that screamed "HELP ME!"

"Sorry bud, you are on your own for this one!" Sonic said with a laugh before sitting on the couch with Skye.

And while Tangle was scolding her husband… a concept that Sonic still was struggling to grasp, he got to know his nephew.

Eventually, Tangle eased off, and Tails was able finish dinner. When they all were all seated and eating, Tangle began telling the story about how she and Tails got together.

"After I helped Tails with the whole Phantom Ruby thing, we became good friends. We started working together a bit more on missions as well as looking for you. After a while the two of us became a pretty good team. Not as good as you two, but we still worked really well together. One day, there was a battle with Starline in my village. This was about… six years ago I think. It was just me fighting him, and I was doing pretty well… but I got careless. Jewel's museum got destroyed, and Jewel was hurt really bad. To say that I felt down after that would be an understatement."

"Been meaning to ask about her, she lives here in Central City now?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, when the museum was destroyed, we decided that it would be for the best that she had a change in location." Tails explained. "It took some work, but we managed to get her set up nearby. Though, most of her exhibits were destroyed on that day."

"Me and Knuckles have been working together to make the new museum bigger and better… I wanted to make up for messing up like that." Tangle explained.

"That's right, Knuckles did mention something about that." Sonic said.

"Anyways, back to the story." Tangle said. "When Tails found out what happened, he came to visit me, and when he saw how upset I was, he tried his best to cheer me up. He said some very… sappy things, but it honestly helped a lot. He also let it slip that he liked me, so we decided to do lunch together, and the rest is history."

"Well, that is a sweet story." Sonic said. "I am happy for you two."

"Thanks, though, we really wish that you could of been at the wedding…" Tails said.

"How was the wedding anyways." Sonic asked, only to be met with laughter. "What?"

"It was a suuuuuuper rushed wedding." Tails said.

"And that means… what exactly?" Sonic asked.

"We got married two days after he proposed." Tangle explained.

"WHAT?! Ok, I may know practically nothing about weddings, but even I know one takes a lot of planning." Sonic said.

"That is true, for normal weddings… but this wasn't exactly a normal wedding." Tangle explained.

"You see, we figured that if we took too long to have the wedding, word would of gotten out about it, and it would of gathered some… unwanted attention." Tails said. "In other words, we didn't want Starline to find out and decide to crash the party…"

"It was a super casual wedding, on a beach by Emerald Hill. No-one was dressed up for it, not even me or Tails." Tangle explained.

"Emerald Hill, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, the place where we started our first adventure together… that place is special for me." Tails explained. "And honestly, I thought it was almost perfect… the only thing missing was you…"

"Awww, I'm so touched!" Sonic said while pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

Tangle just rolled her eyes. "Anyways, about a year later, we had Skye, and well, here we are today."

"Well, I am happy for you two. Really. I hope you have a lifetime of happiness together." Sonic said as he pulled the two into a hug.

"Thanks Sonic. Now, let's dig in!" Tails said before taking a bite out of his food.

The four then happily ate together, recounting all of the adventures they had together. The entire time however, Sonic couldn't help but think.

_'__They look so happy together' _He thought as he watched Tails, Tangle and Skye. _'Would… would they of been like this if I didn't disappear?…_

_Would Tails be better off if I didn't go back?'_

After a while, they all finished eating, and while Tails and Tangle were tidying up, Sonic went upstairs and looked at some of the wedding pictures.

Sure enough, they were all in super casual clothing. No tuxes, no dresses, nothing. Sonic couldn't help but smile, seeing Tails so happy in these pictures.

Eventually, everyone went to sleep. That is, everyone except for Sonic.

Sonic, currently sitting on the roof of Tails' house, was just staring at the sky.

"At least the stars didn't change…" Sonic said.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light behind him.

"I found you… faker."

**End of Chapter 4**

* * *

**Yep, that is how I am introducing Shadow. Were you expecting anything less? And before you say "Oh, why'd you spoil it?!" who else would call Sonic that?**

**So today, we found out more about how Tails' and Tangle's relationship developed in this timeline. Also, Sonic is starting to have his doubts on whether he should be going back to his time or not. This is going to be the main theme for this story, so expect it to be brought up several times.**

**The next main chapter is going to be all about Shadow, so look forward to the inevitable fight between the two.**

**The next sub chapter though, is all about Tails learning about the fact that he can use the Phantom Ruby's power, and having to deal with that knowledge.**

**So, I will see you then!**


	7. Subchapter 2: Phantom Ruby

**Subchapter 2: Phantom Ruby**

* * *

**Tails' workshop, Three Weeks after Sonic's disappearance**

Not long after Tails woke up in the hospital, he was allowed to leave. However, until his injuries completely recovered, he was ordered to rest. This meant that he was not allowed to go and search for Sonic.

And he absolutely hated it.

Trying to get his mind off of things, he was currently working on repairing the Cyclone, to little success.

"Dang it!" Tails said as he dropped his wrench for the third time.

He was about to climb down and grab the wrench, when someone picked it up and handed it to him.

"Need a hand?" Tangle said as her tail stretched out towards Tails.

"Yeah, thanks." Tails said before grabbing the wrench. "So, what brings you here?"

"I was in the area, and thought I would stop by and check in on you." Tangle said.

"Oh really? Well, I really appreciate it." Tails said. "It gets lonely around here sometimes without… you know…"

"Yeah, I get that." Tangle said with a sympathetic smile.

"Any news? Rumors? Anything?" Tails asked.

"Sorry, nothing." Tangle said. "We're still looking though! And we won't stop until he is found!"

Tails just sighed. "Ok, well, you should probably get back to it then…"

"Uh, no." Tangle said. "I know a sad face when I see one, and you have it. So, I am staying until you cheer up!"

"That's not necessary, I'm fine!" Tails said.

"Hmmm… nope, sorry, don't believe you!" Tangle said. "At least let me stay and help you fix your… whatever this thing is!"

Tails just sighed. "Alright, come on up… and yes."

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to drive this when we were in Central City that one time, remember?" Tails said. "When it is done, we can take it for a test drive."

Tangle gasped. "REALLY?!"

"Of course! You have been a big help and a good friend ever since we met you, so why not?" Tails said. "Just uh… be careful? I am just rebuilding it now…"

"You got it! Now, let's get to work!" Tangle said.

The two of them then went to work, but when it became obvious that Tangle had no idea what she was doing, she was relegated to equipment retrieval, which was still a huge help. Before long, the repairs were complete.

"Phew! That should just about do it!" Tails said, wiping some sweat from his brow.

"Alright! It looks great!" Tangle said, admiring the shiny new Cyclone.

"So, you ready?" Tails asked.

"Wait, I can try it now?!" Tangle asked.

"Of course! I want to test it out and make sure everything is working, and I have a good area nearby for just that. So, let's go!"

"ALRIGHT!" Tangle shouted enthusiastically as she leapt into the drivers seat.

"Uh… maybe I should drive there?" Tails said.

"Oh… yeah, might be a good idea."

* * *

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!" Tangle shouted as she drifted around the driving range. "THIS THING IS SOOOOO COOOOOOOOL!"

"Well, good to see that she's having fun." Tails said with a laugh. He then pushed a button, causing a bunch of targets to appear.

Tangle turned the vehicle around and fired at the targets… only to completely miss all of them.

"Uh Tails, I think the cannon's broken." Tangle said.

"You didn't lock onto the targets. You see the screen on the dashboard?" Tails started explaining. "You have to line up the reticle with the target, then, after a second, it will lock on. That is when you can fire."

Tangle took this Tails' advice, and managed to destroy the targets on her second attempt.

"WHOO! OK! IT WORKS!" She shouted enthusiastically.

"Ok, that's good." Tails said. "Take it for a few more laps, then we should go back before it get's dark."

"You got it!" Tangle said before driving off again.

Just then, Tangle's communicator, which she had left with Tails, began ringing. Deciding it would be best to not leave it unanswered, picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Tails?! Is that you?!" Amy said on the other side of the line.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Where's Tangle?! We need her help! Starline is-"

Suddenly, an explosion rang out nearby. Hearing the explosion, Tangle sped over.

"What was that?" She asked.

"I don't know… though Amy did mention something about Starline on your communicator." Tails said.

"Starline? Didn't he…?" Tangle started.

Suddenly, a giant robot emerged from over the hill.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Starline shouted from within the machine.

"Uh… who?" Tangle asked.

"DR. EGGMAN! I KNOW YOU HAVE HIM SOMEWHERE!"

"Uh… sorry dude, but we have no idea where he is. He and Sonic disappeared a couple of-"

Suddenly, the robot swatted the Cyclone and Tangle away.

"TANGLE!" Tails shouted out to his friend. He was relieved when he saw that she was OK.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Starline shouted, as he prepared to crush Tangle. Suddenly, a rocket hit the side of the robot, stopping the attack.

Tails looked to the source of the rocket to see Whisper, as well as multiple other Restoration members running towards them.

"Tails! Are you alright?!" Amy asked.

"I'm fine! I'm more worried about Tangle." Tails said, gesturing towards Tangle, who was currently avoiding Starline's attacks from within the Cyclone.

"Don't worry, we got this." Silver said as he landed nearby. He then lifted a couple of rocks and launched them towards Starline.

And with that, the battle was on. Without the Cyclone, and with his injuries, Tails was sitting out. He figured he would only get in the way.

That is, until the Cyclone got turned over.

"Tangle!" Amy shouted.

Starline was then preparing to crush Tangle once again. Tangle closed her eyes, and prepared for the inevitable… but it never came.

When she opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Chains, all glowing red and coming out from the ground, had been wrapped around the machine. The chains began to retract, and pulled the robot to the ground. Then continued to tighten, until the machine was destroyed from the pressure.

When the smoke cleared, Starline was gone.

"What… was that?" Silver asked.

"I…" Tails said, earning everyone's attention. What they saw surprised all of them.

He was glowing red.

"Tails? Did you do that?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I think so…"

"What was that?" Silver asked.

"I… I think that was…"

"You think it was…?"

"I think it was Infinite's power." Tails finally said.

"Infinite's power?!" Amy asked. "How… how could you possibly… oh."

"Yeah, I think the energy from Eggman's machine that exploded released a bunch of energy from inside of it, and it infused with my body… and because that was energy from the Phantom Ruby and it's prototypes…"

"That's amazing! That is going to be so helpful in the future!" Amy said.

"Y-yeah. I guess so." Tails said, earning Tangle's attention.

"Of course, you should probably take some time to learn how to use it… I uh… don't want to talk about when I was first learning to use my power." Silver said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Right, I will get to that." Tails said.

"Still, with Starline back, that complicates things…" Amy said. "We should have a meeting. We can do that in the morning though, let's all go home and get some rest."

"Right. Take care Tails!" Silver said before he flew off, with Amy and Whisper, who had just finished helping Tangle flip the Cyclone back onto it's wheels, walking away themselves.

"Hey, you alright?" Tails asked Tangle.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just a bit sore." Tangle said.

"That's good…"

"…Ok what's up?" Tangle asked.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"I told you before, I know a sad face when I see one, and you have one." Tangle said. "So, what's up?"

"It's… it's nothing. Nothing worth worrying about." Tails said.

"Are you… upset that you can use that power now?" Tangle asked.

"What? No! It's an incredible power! I mean, look at how strong Infinite was…" Tails said. "Infinite… who used this power to… do so much damage… to kill so many people…"

All of his composure broke in that moment, as Tails then broke down crying.

Tangle, deciding to comfort her friend, went over and wrapped her tail around him and pulled him into a hug.

"This power… can only hurt and kill… and in my hands…" Tails said with a sob. "I'll only screw up… get someone hurt…"

"Shh, it's ok. Let it all out." Tangle said.

"I'm just a failure… there's no way I can…"

"You are not a failure Tails."

"Yes I am… I didn't help Sonic when Infinite beat him… I screwed up royally when I found the cure to the metal virus in Central City… and now Sonic's gone because of me…" Tails said. "I even fell for such an obvious trap and got hurt…"

"Tails, look at me." Tangle ordered, to which Tails complied. "You are ten years old. TEN! And in that time, you have accomplished more than I did in Sixteen! You are one of, if not THE, smartest guys on the planet. You even helped save the world multiple times! You're not perfect, no-one is. So please, stop beating yourself up over everything!"

"… Do… you really mean all of that?" Tails asked.

"Of course!"

"But… what about this power? It's…" Tails said.

"Here's what I think. It's not the power that is important, it's what you do with it. Infinite hurt people, and I know that you will help people, and that's what really matters. Heck, you already saved mine!" Tangle said.

At that, Tails just laughed. "Amy was right, you really are a lot like Sonic." He said. "That… that sounds exactly like something he would say."

"Well, it's the truth! I have faith in you kiddo!" Tangle said.

"… Thanks Tangle." Tails said with a smile, which told Tangle that she accomplished her mission. "It's getting late, how about we take the Cyclone back, and you stay the night?"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Thanks for having me!" Tangle said. "Sooooo… Can I drive back?"

Tails just laughed. "You really like driving the Cyclone, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah! It's so cool!" Tangle said.

"Well, how about I build you something like it?" Tails said. "You know, as thanks for helping me so much today."

"REALLY?!" Tangle shouted. "THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!"

"Yeah, although, I could probably use some help." Tails said.

"Sign me up!" Tangle said.

"Alrighty then, we can get started in the morning." Tails said as he began walking towards the Cyclone. "Oh, and yeah, you can drive back, just be careful."

"YES!" Tangle shouted as she practically leaped back into the Cyclone.

Tails just smiled as he watched.

**End of Subchapter 2**

* * *

**You know, at first, this story wasn't supposed to be so much about Tails and Tangle… but it just kinda worked out that way. Makes sense though, Tails is my favorite character, while Tangle is my favorite female character and my favorite of the IDW characters. So… it just kinda happened?**

**I don't really have much to say here, I talked about this in the Tails chapter enough. Just that this will pretty much be the start of the development of Tails and Tangle's relationship. Also, I used a couple of things that happened in the recent IDW Sonic chapter. Thought it would be neat.**

**Next subchapter though, will not be about these two. I am gonna keep it a surprise though. Until then, see you next time for Shadow's chapter.**


	8. Shadow

**Shadow**

"I found you… faker." Said a familiar voice from behind Sonic.

And Sonic couldn't help but smile.

"Faker? I think you're…"

"Ok no, we are not doing this." Shadow said as he sat down beside Sonic.

"Oh what?! Then what was the point of you popping in and saying that?" Sonic asked.

"I was simply stating facts."

"Oh…" Sonic said, feeling a bit silly. "So, how'd you know to find me here?"

"Rouge found out that you were back from Knuckles, and told me to investigate." Shadow explained.

"Oh what?! He couldn't keep it a secret for a day?!" Sonic groaned out.

"More like she took his communicator and saw a picture of you that Tails sent." Shadow clarified.

"Oh… wonder when Tails did that…"

"When you were freaking out about Skye." Shadow answered.

"Oh…"

"Sonic?" Said a new voice. Sonic then looked over to see Tails flying onto the roof. "Who are yo- oh! Hey Shadow!"

"Good evening Tails." Shadow greeted. "Hate to do this, but I am going to need to borrow Sonic for a while."

"Yeah, figured that was what you were here for." Tails said.

"Alright, if you want to hang so bad, let's go Shadow." Sonic said before getting up.

"Hmph. Chaos Control!" Shadow said before the two hedgehogs disappeared in a flash of light.

"Welp, there he goes… better get back to bed." Tails said with a yawn before going back into the house.

On his way to bed though, he noticed something. His main computer was still on.

"That's weird, I could of sworn I turned this off…" Tails said before turning off the computer. "Oh well, it's probably not important."

If only he knew exactly how important it was.

* * *

When Sonic and Shadow reappeared, Sonic took a good look around.

"Tails' testing grounds?" Sonic asked. "What are we doing here?"

"Simple, I need to see if you are the real Sonic or not." Shadow said.

Sonic just sighed. "Really? And how do you-" Sonic started before swiftly dodging a punch. "Oh, so that's how. Been a while since we duked it out, huh?"

"You could say that… over fifteen years." Shadow said.

"Yeah, can't wait to see how much you improved." Sonic said. "Try not to kill me, ok?"

"If I end up killing you, that would mean that you are a fake." Shadow quipped back.

"Oh ho! Now you're talking!" Sonic said.

And with that, the battle was on…

aaaaand it's done.

Turns out, Shadow became a lot stronger over the years, and was more than capable of completely thrashing the still teenage Sonic using Chaos Control and Chaos Spear rather viciously.

"I thought you said you were going to hold back!" Sonic said, after being completely pummeled by the Ultimate life form.

"I never said that, I just said that killing you would mean that you were a fake." Shadow said. "You passed by the way."

"Geez, I am so thrilled…" Sonic said sarcastically. "Seriously, I thought the Emeralds disappeared with me, how are you…?"

"I cut a deal with Knuckles. I can use the Master Emerald to recharge my energy, and in return I offer my full support whenever he needs help to protect the Emerald." Shadow said. "I wasn't exactly happy about it, but I had little choice."

"Geez, I knew you would be stronger, but that was ridiculous!" Sonic said.

"Well, you didn't improve at all." Shadow said with a smirk.

"Hey! I didn't have fifteen years to improve!" Sonic shouted.

"That's true, Tails could probably kick your butt now." Shadow said.

"You know, I wanted to ask about that." Sonic said. "What's up with you calling Tails… well, Tails?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, fifteen years ago, you only called him things like 'runt' or 'brat'. What changed?" Sonic said, and Shadow just glared at him. "What?"

"Come on, let's go." Shadow said.

"So you're not going to answer my question?"

"Don't need to." Shadow said.

"Why don't you want to?" Sonic asked.

"Cause he doesn't want to admit that Tails kicked his butt once."

Sonic and a frustrated Shadow looked over to the source of the voice to see Rouge standing there.

"Hey big blue, good to see you again!" Rouge said with a wave.

"Rouge! Good to see you! Congrats on the engagement by the way." Sonic said.

"Oh, Knuckles told you already did he?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, even invited me to the wedding." Sonic said. "Assuming I am still in this time of course."

"We will have to see." Rouge said.

"So, what's this about Tails kicking your butt?" Sonic said, playfully elbowing Shadow.

"Hmph, he simply caught me off guard when I hadn't recharged in a while." Shadow said.

"He's been using that excuse ever since." Rouge said. "It was quite the sight too, watching Tails fight like that."

She then got close to Sonic and started whispering. "Truth be told, the fight happened because Shadow was dissing you, but he did it to try and get Tails to man up and fight him, and gain some confidence."

Sonic just smiled. "Man, the more I hear about what Tails has been up to all this time, the more proud I feel!"

"He's not the only one who will make you feel that way." Rouge said.

"Oh really?" Sonic said. "Can't wait to find out who you are talking about!"

"What? You don't want me to tell you?" Rouge said.

"I would like for it to be a surprise." Sonic said.

Rouge just shrugged. "Very well then. Anyways, you should probably take him to headquarters." Rouge said to Shadow.

"I was just about to do that when you interrupted." Shadow groaned out.

"Alright, then get going." Rouge said. "Talk later big blue?"

"Of course! We still need to catch up!" Sonic said.

"Looking forward to it." Rouge said before Sonic and Shadow disappeared into another flash of light.

* * *

**G.U.N. HQ**

When Sonic and Shadow reappeared, Sonic got a look around, and saw that there was no-one around.

"Where is everyone?" Sonic asked.

"Asleep… it's past midnight." Shadow said.

"Oh, so then, what are we doing then?" Sonic asked.

"Most soldiers are asleep, but not all. The one that I am reporting to just so happens to still be awake." Shadow said before leading Sonic out of the room.

"O….kay?" Sonic said.

The two then began walking through the halls. They passed by a couple of soldiers, all of which began staring at the hero.

"Guess they're surprised to see me…?" Sonic said.

"Trust me, she will be the most surprised." Shadow said.

"She?" Sonic said.

"The one we are about to see, she is just through the doors." Shadow said as he stopped.

"Ok…?"

When the two of them went into the door, Sonic could not believe what he was seeing.

"Agent Rose, I think I found something that you would want to see." Shadow said.

"This better be important Shadow, and I told you, just call me A-" Amy said as she turned around.

And as her eyes locked with Sonic's, she dropped her clipboard.

**End of Chapter 5**

* * *

**Just going to say this now, in this story, Amy looks pretty much like she did in Sonic Boom. Just feels like a more mature look for her, and I think it works for this.**

**ALSO, SUDDENLY AMY! Yeah, she's a part of G.U.N. now! How did that happen? That is what the next Subchapter is about actually. Not going to go straight into that though, I want to do the Amy chapter first, which is next by the way.**

**Can you guys tell that Tails is my favorite character yet? Cause I keep adding stuff to him… not intentional, I promise… maybe...**

**This is pretty much it for Tails though, he won't be back until the last couple of chapters, outside of a couple of subchapters.**

**Also the fight between Shadow and Tails will be a subchapter in the future, and I will actually write out that fight. So don't worry, it won't be over in a second like the fight in this chapter… sorry about that. **

**Anyways, see you next time for Amy!**


	9. Amy

**Amy**

Silence. Absolute silence. The two hedgehogs just stared at each other, unsure what to say at this point.

Finally, Sonic decided to speak.

"Uh… surprise?"

Amy just groaned. "Shadow, if this is a prank, I SWEAR I will strangle both you AND this imposter!"

"Ok, what is with everyone thinking that I am a fake?!" Sonic groaned out. "First Tails, then Tangle, now you?! Oh, and please don't strangle me, Tangle almost choked me out earlier and I would rather not go through that again."

"Probably because this is, say, the fifth time someone decided to try this?"

"Wow, seriously?" Sonic asked, to which Shadow nodded.

"Starline tried that a couple of times, then the Deadly Six tried it as well." Shadow explained. "It almost worked the first couple of times. Knuckles has a scar from the first time it happened."

"Speaking of Knux, ask him Amy. He was the one who found me after all." Sonic said.

"I think I will!" Amy said before typing something on a keyboard. Before long, Knuckles' face appeared on the screen in front of her.

"Hey Amy, what's up?" Knuckles answered.

"Is he real?" Amy asked, pointing towards Sonic.

"Yup, appeared in a flash of light, and in the same exact spot that he disappeared. And the Master Emerald was reacting to it, so that pretty much confirms it." Knuckles said. "Also, I can feel that the Chaos Emeralds are somewhere, so they are back too… probably Eggman as well."

"Well, it's good to know that Eggman and the Emeralds ARE here…" Sonic said to himself.

"Ok… thanks Knuckles." Amy said before hanging up.

"So, believe that it is me no-" Sonic started before he was cut off.

"WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Amy shouted.

"Uh… time traveling apparently." Sonic answered.

"Time… oh… that would explain…"

"Why I am still a teenager, yeah." Sonic said.

"Wow… ok, that's… that's something, I guess." Amy said.

"Yeah… so, a part of G.U.N. now?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I was given the offer a couple years after you disappeared."

"Huh, Whisper said the same thing." Sonic said.

"I can imagine, we were invited at the same time." Amy said.

"Really now? Guess all your work with the Resistance and the Restoration led to this?" Sonic asked.

"That's what Rouge told me, yeah." Amy said.

"I guess you accepted the offer right away, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Actually, I declined the offer." Amy said. "At first at least."

"Really? I thought you would jump at the opportunity! You would be doing so many great things to help people, something I know you wouldn't pass up on." Sonic said.

"Well, you are right, ever since I did join G.U.N. I honestly have felt like I was living a… fulfilling life. Much more-so than ever before really." Amy said. "But, back then, it just didn't feel right. I knew you wouldn't accept it, and I just… I didn't want to do it when you were still missing."

"Ok… so what changed your mind?" Sonic asked.

"I… I finally decided that I needed to move on." Amy said. "You had been missing for nine years at that point… and then Tails and Tangle got together, and at that point, I figured it was time I moved on… oh gosh please tell me you already know about Tails and Tangle!"

"No worries, Tails was the first person I went to see." Sonic said. "I was honestly thinking about seeing you next."

"…Really?" Amy said.

"Yeah, figured you were probably the most upset aside from Tails after my little vanishing act, so I wanted to come cheer you up!" Sonic said.

"Well, aren't you the romantic one." Amy said with a blush.

"Hey, don't get ahead of yourself, I would do it for any of my friends, not just you." Sonic said. "Speaking of romance, since you said you were moving on, did you get with anyone?"

"Oh? Why, worried that I am taken?" Amy asked slyly.

"No, just curious." Sonic said. "I will say though, digging the new look. Suits you."

Amy blushed at this. "Well, I did try dating a couple of guys. Tried dating Knuckles before he and Rouge finally got together… it lasted a day."

"HA!" Sonic suddenly laughed out.

"Anyways, after that, I tried dating… well…" Amy said, her face turning a bit red and mumbling something out.

"You tried dating… who?" Sonic asked, then he realized something… Shadow was being very quiet. "Wait…"

"Yeah… I tried dating Shadow for a while." Amy said.

"… Yeah, saw that coming." Sonic said. "You DID confuse him for me the first time you met him after all."

"H-HEY! THE ENTIRE WORLD DID!" Amy said.

"No excuses!" Sonic said while pointing a finger at his friend. "Anyways, what happened with that?"

"It was going well for a while… but I kept thinking of you when I saw him. Thought that it wasn't helping the whole 'moving on' thing, so we agreed to just be friends."

"Ok, well that's good at least." Sonic said. "So… anyone else? Please tell me you didn't try dating Silver."

"Nope, Shadow was my last boyfriend to this day." Amy said. "No-one's really caught my eye."

"Well, your problem is that you set your standards too high! Any guy other than me is gonna be dull in comparison." Sonic said smugly.

"Don't make me slap you." Amy said with a grin.

"Hey, you know it's true." Sonic said.

"Gosh, were you always this immature?" Amy asked.

"Maybe." Sonic said with a smirk.

Then the two started laughing. After a while, Amy was able to compose herself.

"Man, it's been a long time since I laughed like that." Amy said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"You really missed me, huh?"

"Yeah, we all did really. Even Shadow, though he would never admit it." Amy said, much to Shadow's frustration.

"Awwww, you do care!" Sonic said, looking to the hedgehog in question.

Shadow just grit his teeth. "Shut. Up."

"Anyways Shadow, I have a job for you." Amy said. "Since it looks like Eggman is probably back, I want you to see if you can find any information on his whereabouts."

"Yes ma'am." Shadow said before Chaos Controlling out of there.

"So, I guess you met Skye?" Amy asked, to which Sonic nodded. "How is he?"

"He's good, smart little kid. Talking really well for a two year old." Sonic said.

"Well, he IS Tails' son, what did you expect?" Amy asked.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting him to be married before today!" Sonic said. "Let alone having a son!"

"Ok, good point." Amy said with a laugh. "That must of been a shock for you."

"Oh yeah, it was." Sonic said. "I'm proud of him."

"We all are." Amy said.

"I'm proud of you too, you know." Sonic said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it couldn't of been easy, but you're moving on from me." Sonic said. "I was… kinda expecting you to… well, not."

"Well, I am happy that you are proud of me, but you should have more faith in me!" Amy said. "I mean, everyone grows up at some point."

"Good point." Sonic said with a laugh.

"So, what's the plan?" Amy asked.

"Find Eggman, find the Emeralds, then get home." Sonic said with a frown that Amy didn't notice.

"Oh… yeah, sending you back would probably be a good idea." Amy said.

"Yeah…"

"Just… promise me something?" Amy said.

"What?"

"Make sure you go and see everyone before you leave, and I do mean EVERYONE." Amy said. "Like I said, we all missed you."

"Sure thing Ames." Sonic said.

"It shouldn't be too hard, Cream's birthday is coming up, and I am pretty sure most of us are going to be there." Amy said.

"Oh sweet! Yeah, that will work great!" Sonic said. "I am sure Cream would be surprised to see me!"

"I think it would make her week if you were there." Amy said.

"Sounds great!" Sonic said. "So, got any idea who I should go and see next? Kinda didn't plan for anyone after you."

"Well, how about the Chaotix?" Amy asked. "We DID hire them to look for you, and they are still looking…"

"Wait really? Thought they would of given up by now." Sonic said.

"Vector said something about 'leaving no job unfinished' or something like that." Amy said.

"Well, guess I should go finish that job for them then." Sonic said with a yawn. "In the morning though… been a long day."

"Good idea, want to stay here the night or…?" Amy asked.

"Thanks for the offer, but I should probably get back to Tails'. Don't want to make my nephew think I bailed on them." Sonic said. "Tangle would probably kill me…"

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best." Amy said. "Luckily, we aren't far from Central City, so it should take you about, say, five minutes to get there."

"That's good." Sonic said. "So, talk to you later?"

"Talk to you later."

And with that, Sonic was gone.

On his way back to Tails', he thought of what Amy said before.

"Ever since I did join G.U.N. I honestly have felt like I was living a… fulfilling life. Much more-so than ever before really."

"Would she be where she is today if I never disappeared?" Sonic asked. "They probably would of tried asking me before anyone… and be persistent about it too… Amy probably wouldn't be a part of G.U.N. if I was around…"

Deciding that dwelling on this was probably not the best idea, he just focused on running back to Tails', and when he arrived, he hopped into the couch and got some well needed rest.

**End of Chapter 6**

**—**

**Remember how I said last time that I wasn't planning on using Tails anymore in this story until the end… I was wrong. Tails is gonna be around for a while… just Tails though, Tangle and Skye probs won't be around til the end outside of a bit of dialogue in the next chapter.**

**So, Amy is a part of G.U.N. now, and tried to date Knuckles and Shadow… even if those two didn't work out. I picked Knuckles because those two seemed to have been developing something in the Archie Comics before it ended, and I picked Shadow cause uh… I thought it would be funny.**

**If you are wondering whether or not I am going to pair up Sonic and Amy, and how I would do that… stay tuned ;)**

**Also, as explained in the chapter, I thought being a part of G.U.N. would be a nice thing that could happen with her, with her leading the Restoration and keeping the Resistance organized. Just a fun idea I came up with while thinking about that… heck, a lot of stuff I have been doing in this story came from fun ideas I just randomly came up with.**

**Also, it is established that Cream's birthday is coming up (whenever that is supposed to be…). This is pretty much when I plan on ending the story, and where everything and everyone comes together. So look forward to that…**

**Funny how I establish a plot point surrounding a birthday on my actual birthday…**

**Anyways, the Chaotix are next, so I hope you look forward to it, but first, we find out about how exactly Whisper and Amy got invited to join G.U.N. **

**See you then!**


	10. Subchapter 3: Amy, Whisper, And GUN

**Three Years After Sonic's disappearance**

Amy and Whisper were currently engaging in a nice conversation over a cup of tea.

"So, how's the tea Whisper?" Amy asked.

"It's lovely." Whisper said. "This cafe is very lovely as well."

"That's good, this is my favorite place to just unwind, so it's good to hear that you like it here too." Amy said. "Still, I can't help but wonder what Rouge wanted to talk to us about…"

Whisper took a look at Amy and immediately knew what she was thinking.

"You're hoping that they found a lead on Sonic… aren't you?" Whisper asked.

"… Yeah, I am." Amy answered. "It's been three years Whisper… he's out there somewhere, we just need to find him…"

Whisper just stared at her in silence.

Three years after Sonic disappeared, and most people began to lose hope. The fact that there wasn't even a clue as to whereabouts after that day, or the fact that Eggman hadn't turned up either was evidence enough for people to believe that the two were no longer alive. Most of the former Restoration and Resistance members had begun to move on, and the only one's who haven't were Amy and Tails.

Neither of them wanted to admit that Sonic was really gone…

"I know it's… unlikely, but I can hope…"

"Well, I hate to disappoint you dearie, but that is not what I called you here for." Said a new voice.

The two girls looked to the source of the voice to see Rouge approaching them with a wave.

"Oh hey Rouge." Amy said. "So… what did you call us here for?"

"Straight to business huh? I can't order myself a cup of tea first?" Rouge said.

"O-oh! I'm sorry! Please, go right ahead!" Amy said frantically.

"I'm only busting your chops Pink." Rouge said. "I have to make this quick anyways."

"Oh, ok."

"So, G.U.N. wanted to make an offer for you two." Rouge said.

"An offer?" Whisper asked.

"They want to recruit you two." Rouge finished.

"Wait… what?" Amy asked. "Why us?"

"Well, Whisper's work in the Diamond Cutters as well as the Guardian Angel earned her quite the reputation as a silent sniper, a skillset that would be very helpful in missions." Rouge started. "As for you, Pink, your leadership skills that you displayed when a part of the Resistance and Restoration would be very helpful. So… what do you two say?"

After a moment of thought, Whisper spoke up.

"I think… I think I would like that…" Whisper said.

"Really? Don't get me wrong, I am happy, but I am surprised you are so willing to work with other people so easily… especially Shadow…" Rouge said.

"It's true that it will be… difficult… for a while, but Tangle has taught me that I need to step out of my comfort zone… even if it means working with him…" Whisper explained.

"Well, that makes me happy." Rouge said as she extended her hand. "Welcome aboard!"

After a moment of shaking hands, she looked to Amy.

"So, how about you, Pink?" Rouge asked.

Amy just sat there for a minute. Eventually, she spoke up.

"I'm sorry Rouge… but I think I am going to pass on your offer…" Amy said.

"Oh? I thought you would be all over this to be honest." Rouge asked. "Why not?"

"I… I'm sorry… it just wouldn't feel right…" Amy said.

"… Alright, I get it… but if you ever change your mind, let me know, ok?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, ok." Amy said. "And… if you do find anything about him, let me know?"

"Of course. Whisper, you can meet me here next Tuesday, I will introduce you to everyone then." Rouge said before taking off. "See ya."

And with that, she was gone.

"If… no… when we find Sonic, I will accept her offer." Amy proclaimed before turning to Whisper. "Until then, I wish you the best!"

Whisper smiled to her friend. "Thank you…"

There was the unspoken question of what Amy would do if they didn't find Sonic, but no-one said anything.

Instead, the two continued to enjoy their tea as the sun set on another day.

**End of Subchapter 3**

**—**

**Hey, miss me? Sorry it took me so long to do this. How long has it been? Uh… like 3 months I think… Anyways, I fully intend to finish this story, and will hopefully not have any more super long breaks like that. No promises though.**

**Amy's proclamation at the end there is a thing, especially since we know she doesn't find Sonic before joining GUN. We will learn a bit more about that later.**

**Sorry this one is kinda short, I never promised these would be super long lol.**

**Next chapter, I do need to get a bit back into the writing mood, since I took such a long break, so it will be a bit of a fun intermission involving Skye. Yup, Uncle/Nephew bonding time!**

**So, until then (hopefully really soon), I will see you next time!**


	11. Minichapter: Skye

**Skye**

"You want me to watch Skye?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, Cream's birthday is coming up, so we need to go and get her a gift. And we figured that you wouldn't mind spending some time with your favorite nephew." Tails explained.

"Right, Amy told me her birthday was coming up. How long away was it again?" Sonic asked.

"Three days from today." Tangle said.

"Ok, so that gives me just two days to find an awesome gift…" Sonic said.

"You probably don't need to worry about that, being there will be enough." Tails said.

"Yeah, Amy said that she would be really happy to see me." Sonic said. "Guess that makes things a bit easier…"

"Right, well, we better get going then. Please try and stay hidden though." Tails said. "Remember what Knuckles said."

"Yeah yeah, I don't want to cause a panic. Don't worry, we won't be leaving your property." Sonic said. "Now get going! I still gotta go see the Chaotix later today!"

"One more thing before we go though…" Tangle said as she began approaching the hedgehog. "You harm one hair on my son's head, and there won't be a trace of you left… got it?"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Sonic said, feeling very nervous.

"Good… come on Tails, let's get going!" Tangle said before the two left.

"Have fun you two!"

And with that, they were gone.

"Ok Skye, what do you want to do fi-" Sonic started before he saw that Skye was gone.

"… Hide and seek it is I guess…"

—

Not too much later, Sonic, having found and caught Skye, who was a very slippery and playful child, was sitting on the couch and watching some TV with his nephew.

"Huh… guess someone decided to make a documentary about me…" Sonic said to himself.

The TV was currently showing a documentary made about the hedgehog, and was currently at the part when he had met Tails, showing some footage of the younger fox flying alongside the blue blur.

"You know, that reminds me." Sonic said to himself before turning to his nephew and pointing towards his tails. "Did your dad teach you how to fly with those yet?"

Skye just shook his head no. "Not yet. Daddy says I'm too yowng."

"Ah, makes sense. Well, I'm sure that when the time is right, you will get it down easy!" Sonic said before ruffling the kids hair, making him laugh. "Anyways, I am sure you have seen this before… so what do you want to do now?"

Instead of giving a response, Skye just yawned.

"Ah, a nap it is!" Sonic said before picking up his nephew. "Come on, let's see if we can find a good spot in the back yard. Napping in the sun with a nice breeze is the best!"

Shortly after, Sonic found a nice, shady area under a tree for Skye to take his nap, while Sonic hopped onto a branch to take a nap himself. This way, he could keep an eye, and ear, on Skye and his surroundings.

What felt like a short while later though, Sonic woke up to the feeling of some weight on his stomach. Opening his eyes, he saw that Skye had moved to continue his nap on Sonic's stomach.

"Wait… how did he…?" Sonic asked himself.

"Sonic? Skye? We're home!" Sonic heard Tails' voice from inside the house.

"If you don't come out soon, I will assume you kidnapped him, and you know what will happen if that's the case!" Tangle's voice followed.

Deciding to not test fate, Sonic quickly grabbed Skye and hopped down from the tree.

"Hey! We're back here!" Sonic called over.

Shortly after, Tails came outside. "Hey, what were you two doing out here?"

"Skye was feeling tired after we played for a bit, so we came out here for a nap." Sonic explained.

"Yeah, makes sense. He does love his naps…" Tails said with a chuckle.

"So, find anything good?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, some recipe and botany books." Tails said. "She's a florist you know?"

"Yeah, probably should of seen that coming." Sonic said, before a thought crossed his mind. "Say… Skye doesn't know how to fly yet, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I set him down just below that tree for his nap, and when I woke up, he was up in the branch with me." Sonic said.

"Yeah, he sometimes likes to climb the tree. No idea how he does it though." Tails said with a chuckle.

"O…kay?"

"Anyways, you should probably get going if you want to see the Chaotix today." Tails said. "Don't worry about Skye, we got it from here."

"Gotcha, see you later!" Sonic said before running up to the roof and sped off along the rooftops.

**End of Minichapter**

**—**

**Well, that was a cute little thing, wasn't it? Not much really to say, but remember this chapter for later ;)**

**Some good news is that I have already finished drafting out some subchapters, and that includes the Shadow vs Tails fight that I mentioned before. So look forward to that!**

**Anyways, next chapter will be a surprise (mostly because I still haven't decided if the Chaotix are actually going to be next or not…). So I will see you then :)**


	12. Chaotix

**Chaotix**

* * *

**Chaotix Detective Agency, 11:30 AM.**

Vector looked out the window as water pelted it from the outside.

"You know boys… sometimes I wonder, is all this worth it? Searching day in and day out, trying to find some kind of clue as to Sonic's whereabouts, only to come up with nothing for fifteen straight years…" Vector said. "And for what? A small paycheck that will probably not amount to much?"

"Oh great… he's in one of his moods again." Charmy said as he placed down a card onto the table.

Espio just sighed. "Vector, please turn that sprinkler off, we can barely afford the water bill as it is…"

"Right, sorry." Vector said as he turned a valve, turning off the sprinkler.

"So… do you think we should close the Sonic case?" Charmy asked.

"I don't know Charmy… my gut tells me that he is still out there, somewhere. But…" Vector said before trailing off.

"Fifteen years later without a single clue suggests otherwise…" Charmy finished for him.

"Yeah. And it's not like a crucial clue is gonna just suddenly knock on the front door!" Vector said as he pointed to the door.

As if on cue, someone began to knock on the door.

"… Ok that was spooky." Charmy said.

"Oh come on!" Vector said as he opened the door. "What are the odds that… oh my goodness…"

"What?" Charmy asked.

"BOYS! WE GOT OUR LEAD!" Vector said as he held up a photo.

A photo of Sonic.

* * *

**11:45 AM**

"Am I the only one who thinks something is off with this?" Espio asked.

"Yeah, it is kinda freaky that a big clue like this just popped up out of no-where…" Charmy said.

"Listen, we have no other cases to look into right now, and this may be our big lead! So what's the harm?" Vector responded.

On the back of the picture that was left, there was a message.

"If you wish to know what had happened to the hedgehog, head to the clock shop."

And sure enough, when the trio arrived at the clock shop, they were greeted by the owner.

"Hey you three, I was expecting you!" Said the owl in charge of the shop. "Someone left this note for you." He said handing Vector a note.

"To receive your next clue, turn the time forward by fifteen."

"Turn the time forward…"

"By fifteen?" Charmy asked.

"Hmmm…. say, are there any clocks that are out of sync?" Vector asked.

"Well, let's take a look." The owl said as he led the trio inside.

Sure enough, there was a clock that was behind by fifteen minutes exactly.

"So, if we were to move it forward by fifteen minutes…" Vector said as he changed the time on the clock… only for nothing to happen.

"Uh…"

"… Maybe this guy intended for us to get here a little later?" Vector said as he finished moving the clock forward to noon.

Sure enough, a bird popped out, and in it's beak was another note.

"Ok… what does it say?" Charmy asked.

"Let's see…"

"To find your prize, return to where your journey began."

"So… back to the office?" Espio asked.

"I… guess?" Vector said, unsure as to what to say.

"Something tells me this was all a wild goose chase…" Espio sighed out.

"Did you see who left these notes here?" Vector asked.

"No, I'm sorry." The Owl said. "This all happened when I was checking my inventory in the back."

"Hmmm I see…" Vector said as a grin appeared on his face. "Boys, I think I just about solved this mystery."

"How much are you willing to bet he is completely off the mark…" Charmy asked Espio as he followed Vector out of the shop.

* * *

**Back at Chaotix HQ, Noon**

"Now boys, I want you two to stay behind me, no matter what." Vector said to his team. "Got it?"

"Yeah sure, let's just get this disappointment over with…" Charmy said.

When Vector opened the door, his team was surprised to see a hooded figure inside.

"Hello there, Chaotix."

"Ok, so it was a trap… great…" Charmy said.

"Let's just get this over with." Espio followed up, preparing to fight.

"Now hold on boys, let's see what our friend here has to say." Vector said as he put a hand in front of the others.

"What more is there to say, you pretty much figured everything out, didn't you, Mr. World's Greatest Detective?" The hooded figure said. "That includes my identity."

"Yeah, that's right… good to see you again, Sonic." Vector said.

"Wait… huh?!" Charmy asked as the figure took off his cloak, revealing the blue hedgehog himself.

"Surprise!" Sonic said as he revealed himself.

"… So a trap, got it!" Charmy said as he prepared his stinger.

"Now hold on!" Vector said even louder this time. "Let me finish, there is more to this."

"I'm listening…" Espio said.

"Your first note said that we would find out what happened to you at the clock shop, where you told us to move time forward by fifteen." Vector said. "Minutes is not the only way to measure time. And it just so happens, that it has been just about fifteen years since your little disappearing act. This leads me to believe that you time traveled, forward by fifteen years."

"Right, I remember Tails mentioning something like that being possible…" Charmy said.

"So how does this prove that this is the real Sonic?" Espio asked.

"Simple, only Sonic could of planted those clues." Vector explained. "The owl in the clock shop works fast, it would of only taken him less than a minute to check his inventory. Not to mention that he would of been able to hear someone tampering with one of the clocks, meaning that whoever left those clues, had to be ludicrously fast… and the only one who can move at those speeds…"

"Is… Sonic…" Charmy finished.

Sonic then began to clap.

"Well done Vector! You really are the world's best detective!" Sonic said. "Oh, and if you want to verify that it's me, give Knuckles a call."

"We'll do that later. Good to see you again Sonic!" Vector said as he wrapped an arm around the blue hedgehog.

"Good to see you too Vector. So, what have you guys been up to these past fifteen years?" Sonic asked.

"Oh uh… lots of things! Lots of new cases coming in! Yeah!" Vector said nervously.

"We spent pretty much the last fifteen years looking for you, and when we weren't we were solving small cases for small amounts of pay." Espio said.

"Oh… neat!" Sonic said.

…

…

…

"Well, I guess I will see you guys around! You gonna be at Cream's birthday party?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, see you there!" Vector said with a wave.

And with that, Sonic was off.

"… SOMEONE CALL AMY SO WE CAN GET PAID!"

And the Chaotix began celebrating a job well done.

That, and their impending paycheck.

**End of Chapter 7**

**—**

**Yeah, I had no idea what kind of things I could of had the Chaotix doing over the fifteen years. So, I decided to have them just go on a little investigation. Just to have a bit of a fun chapter. That's all.**

**Honestly, outside of Amy and Tails, I really didn't think too much about what characters were going to be doing during those fifteen years. Anything else I come up with is just random thoughts that I had for them. Truth be told, a reason that I put off updating this story so much was because I honestly had zero clue as to what I could do with the Chaotix. That being said, when I had the idea of having just a fun chapter with very little exposition with them, I decided to just roll with it, and that is when I started writing again. Also the Sonic Movie happened (which I loved :D) and it kinda put me back in a Sonic mood. I'm trying to get all this done before that mood goes away. :)**

**Next up is another Subchapter, and it is the Tails VS Shadow fight I had been teasing a bit. I hope you all look forward to it! Again, it is all drafted out, just need to edit it a bit. :)**

**So, I will see you then!**


	13. Subchapter 4: Tails vs Shadow

**Subchapter 4**

**Before this chapter starts, I just want to apologize for the large gap… again. I went through a lot of stuff during these past few months, including a death in the family, and I honestly didn't really like this story for a while. I even considered rewriting this story from the beginning for a while there. In the end, I decided to finish it, and have been working really hard to get as much done as I can these past couple of days… despite having to work most of the time. Essential worker, gotta love it.**

**The good news though! As of me posting this chapter, the story is done! I wrote everything out, edited it, and it is all ready for posting! It's been a long time coming, but over the course of the next week, I will be finishing this story! So, I hope the wait was worth it! Enjoy the Tails and Shadow fight!**

* * *

**Tails VS Shadow**

**Eight Years after Sonic's disappearance.**

Tangle walked into Tails' workshop, only to see the eighteen year old fox hard at work.

"Hey Tangle, sorry, I am going to need a bit more time on this machine." Tails said with a wave.

"No, it's fine, this was a big commission for you, so I don't want to interrupt!" Tangle said.

"Still, feel free to make yourself at home, I got some great tea the other day from Chunan, and I think you would love it!" Tails said as he got back to his work.

"I think I'll take you up on that!" Tangle said as she began walking towards the kitchen.

Tails and Tangle had been getting along very well ever since their first fight against Starline since his return. The two often team up, and even began training together in their down time to keep their skills sharp. Because of this, Tails had begun to greatly improve, not only in fighting normally, but also with his new power.

"Mmmmmm, this tea really is good… thanks a bunch Tails!" Tangle said with a smile, which made Tails blush.

Also, he had developed a pretty big crush on the lemur, and almost all his friends knew about it already… almost.

"That's good, I'm glad you like it!" Tails said as he hid his red face behind the machine. "Anyways, I am almost done here, so we can get started soon."

Shortly after, Tails finished the machine, and the two began to make their way over to Tails' testing grounds in their cyclones. Though, it was also a bit of a training grounds now.

After Tangle accidentally nailed Tails in the face with her tail, they decided it would be best to take a break.

"Man, you really are getting a lot quicker!" Tangle said after taking a sip of her water.

"Yeah, but the stuff you do with your tail, even Sonic would probably get caught by you eventually!" Tails responded.

"Nah, there's no way!" Tangle said with a laugh.

"I mean it! You think I've come a long way? You have come just as far, and you can't create illusions at the snap of your fingers!" Tails said.

"Really? You think so?" Tangle asked.

"I know so!"

"Thanks Tails, I appreciate it!" Tangle said before pulling the fox into a hug.

"Uh… don't mention it?" Tails said as his face turned bright red.

"Well, isn't this cute?" Said a new voice.

The two jumped as the voice startled them, but they were relieved to see that it was only Rouge, with Shadow standing besides her.

"How's it going you two?" Rouge asked.

"It's going well, just taking a bit of a break." Tails said. "Care to join us?"

"Eh, we can't stay too long, I just wanted to see if you had your answer for my suggestion from the other day." Rouge said.

"Suggestion?" Tangle asked.

"… G.U.N. wants me to essentially become someone people can look up to. You know, someone to lift people's spirits and deter crime… kinda like that one guy in that show I like." Tails explained.

"Right. So, do you have your answer?" Rouge asked.

"…I'm sorry Rouge, but I don't think I am the best candidate for that…" Tails said. "Wouldn't someone like Silver or Amy be better?"

"Silver isn't exactly in this time period too much, and Amy was the one who recommended you. She also said that she could never take Sonic's place, and that you would be the only one people would accept." Rouge explained.

"Still, I just don't think I'm up to the task…" Tails said.

"Hmph… pathetic…" Shadow said before storming up to the fox. "This just proves that I was right, the world would never look up to a coward like you, runt."

"HEY! There's no need to be so harsh!" Tangle yelled at Shadow.

"I'm just telling the truth." Shadow said.

"And he's right… I am a coward…" Tails said.

"Hmph, I'm willing to bet that if idiot Sonic didn't die, he would of left you anyways." Shadow said before turning to walk away.

Only to get stopped by someone grabbing him.

"… What did you just say?" Tails growled out.

"You heard me. That moron would of abandoned you, guaranteed." Shadow said coldly.

"Shut. Up." Tails growled out.

"Excuse me?" Shadow asked.

"SHUT! UP!" Tails said again, shouting this time.

"… Make me."

And just like that, the fight began.

Tails started by swiping his namesakes at the hedgehog, who easily dodged the attack. He then created an arm cannon and fired. The resulting energy ball was easily repelled by one of Shadow's chaos spears.

Once that was done, Shadow went on the offensive. He quickly began to spin dash towards the fox, who was just barely able to dodge. He then managed to grab a hold of the spinning hedgehog with his namesakes and sent him flying towards a nearby rock. The spin dash did hurt his tails a bit, but he believed that the damage he did with that counter attack would be worth it.

He was wrong.

Shadow was able to react too quickly, and was able to regain control in the air, and leapt off the rock and rocketed towards the still staggered Tails. He then spin dashed straight into Tails' chest. He then continued his assault with a volley of chaos spears, followed by a vicious combo using chaos control very effectively. Tails tried to block the attacks with his namesakes, but they were too fast and from too many angles.

Before long, Tails was on the ground, with Shadow standing above him.

"Hmph, you really are pathetic…" Shadow said.

"I'm not done, not yet!" Tails said as he struggled to get up.

"Come on Tails! You can still win this!" Tangle cheered from the sidelines.

"What an idiot… she still hasn't seen how outmatched you are…" Shadow said.

"… Excuse me?" Tails said. "Would you mind repeating that?"

Shadow then smiled. "You heard me, that waste of space has no clue how outmatched you are, and yet she still cheers you on, hoping for some kind of a miracle."

Then, he did something no-one expected, and started charging up a chaos spear. Tangle and Rouge thought he was going to use it to knock Tails out, when in reality…

"Perhaps I should just shut her up." Shadow said before launching a chaos spear straight at the lemur.

And just before the energy connected, a red wall of stone rose from the ground, blocking the attack.

And then, before Shadow could react, Tails kicked him in the stomach with all of his strength.

"How… DARE YOU!" Tails said before getting back up and charging.

During his charge, Tails created several illusions of energy cannons, which relentlessly fired at the black hedgehog. Just as he was about to dodge the assault, red chains came out of the ground and trapped him, catching him off guard and making him take the full force of the attack. When Tails got close enough, he started his assault on the injured and disoriented hedgehog. Punches, kicks, and whacks from his namesakes rained upon Shadow as the attacks were beginning to become too much for him. Finally, Tails finished his assault by spin dashing into Shadow's stomach, and pinned him down as he created an arm cannon and pointed it at his opponent.

"I win." Tails gasped out, clearly out of breath.

"… Hmph… yeah, you do." Shadow admitted. "Now tell me, if you are able to beat me, what makes you think that you aren't someone that people can look up to?"

"… Wait… did you plan this?" Tails asked.

"Of course I did. Do you really think I would just insult the dead without good reason?" Shadow said. "I knew you had what it takes, I just needed to push you to the point of actually wanting to fight me, and insulting Sonic was the only way I could do just that. And attacking the lemur was just to get you to stop holding back so much."

"But… I wasn't…"

"Love and anger can push one well beyond their limits… or so I have heard for the former. Looks like it was true after all." Shadow responded.

Tails then turned red. "Uuuuuuhhhhh…"

"Anyways, now you know my motive."

"So… you wanted me to fight you to give me a confidence boost?" Tails asked, his blush beginning to fade.

"Yeah, and it worked, didn't it?" Shadow asked back.

"… You know what? Yeah, it did…" Tails said as he helped Shadow to his feet. "Maybe… maybe I can do this…"

"We'll be counting on you… Tails." Shadow said as he extended his hand, which Tails accepted.

Once the two began to shake hands, Tangle, who had been sweating bullets since Shadow attacked her, finally began to calm down and watched the two in amazement.

"Wow…" She said.

'_Now that I think about it… I don't think I have ever just… watched Tails fight before…_' Tangle thought. '_He… honestly looked amazing just now… wait, why does my face feel hot?_'

Rouge couldn't help but chuckle as Tangle realized that she was blushing.

'_I wonder if that is going to go anywhere…_' She thought as she approached the two boys.

**End of Subchapter 4**

* * *

**And so, the Tails Vs Shadow fight finally happens. In case you were wondering, yes, I did reference My Hero Academia there. Watch the Sonic Twitter Takeover from last year, and you will see that Tails is actually a fan of the anime (according to that anyways lol). I thought it would be a neat reference. **

**Also, Tails and Tangle have officially fallen for each other, or started to, in Tangle's case. The next subchapter is actually going to be the last one (as of right now) and is finally going to be all about how they got together. It will probably be the longest subchapter too. But before then, next up is actually going to be Silver. We need to see what the time traveler has to say about all of this after all. Also, there was a reason why I put Silver as one of the main characters for this story. You may or may not see why that is next time… maybe, we will see.**

**Anyways, see you next time for Silver!**


	14. Silver

**8: Silver**

**Silver**

As Sonic sped back towards Tails' place to plan out his next move, he suddenly stopped as a familiar sight caught his eye.

"Tails' workshop…" Sonic said. He slowed down to a walk as he approached the building.

While it looked fairly similar to the way he remembered it, he did notice that there was a new garage as well. Though he didn't know what was in it.

He then took the spare key out from where he hid it, and went inside.

"Either Tails never found this thing, or he left it in case I ever came back…" Sonic said as he took a look around.

While in Tails' house in Central City had mostly pictures from the wedding onwards, his workshop had a lot of pictures of when he was younger. This included plenty of pictures of Tangle as well. One in particular caught his attention.

"Good to see he fixed the Cyclone up… but why are there two of them?" He asked himself.

Sure enough, in the photo in his hand, Tangle was sitting inside a second Cyclone while Tails was inside his.

It didn't take long for Sonic to connect the dots.

"Tails probably built her one. I wonder if he already had a crush on her at this point…" Sonic deduced, noting that Tails still looked very young in the picture. It was probably taken within a year of his disappearance.

Putting the photo down, he began to look around again, and eventually, made his way over to the garage.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Sonic said as he saw the original Tornado parked in the garage. "Good to see that Tails has been taking good care of you while I was gone."

He carefully ran his hand along his name that was still painted on the rear half of the plane.

"You know, he didn't fly this all that much after you disappeared." Said a new voice from behind Sonic.

Startled, Sonic jumped back and put his hands up for a fight. That is, until he recognized his visitor.

"Silver?"

"In the flesh!" Silver said as he approached his fellow hedgehog. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"For you maybe. Not so much for me." Sonic said. "You probably know the feeling."

"Yeah, I do. Time travel, am I right?" Silver said with a laugh. "Shadow told me."

"Figured as much. So, what brings you around here?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I was on my way to Central City to see if I could catch you at Tails' place, but then I saw you walking towards the workshop, so I-" Silver started.

"No, I mean, in this time." Sonic said.

"Oh, well, after you disappeared, I went back to the future…" Silver started. "And well… everything was perfectly peaceful."

"Really?" Sonic said, though he lacked his regular enthusiasm Silver noticed.

"Yeah. Of course, when I saw that, I came back and told everyone the good news. And well… then I went back and tried to live there." Silver explained.

"Tried?"

"Yeah… turns out, when everyone you know and care about was only alive two hundred years in the past, it feels kinda depressing to be in the future." Silver explained. "So, while the future will always have a place in my heart, as of a couple of years ago, I have a home here."

"Well, I am glad things are going well for you…" Sonic said.

"…Ok, something's up." Silver said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Sonic said as he scanned a nearby workbench. He then picked up another photo.

In the photo, he saw Skye in the pilot seat of the Tornado, looking as though he was pretending to fly the plane.

"… Hey Silver. You kept on coming back to our time to change the future, right?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah? Why do you ask?"

"Well… if I go back in time, would that change the future here too?" Sonic asked.

"I… don't know if I understand the question."

"What I am asking is… if I go back in time, would it be possible that Tails and Tangle wouldn't get together?" Sonic asked.

"Oh… uh… I'm not really sure to be honest." Silver said.

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"Well, you are traveling through time using the Chaos Emeralds right? That's what Shadow told me at least." Silver asked, getting a nod in response. "Well, I travel through time with something different. You know about the Time Stones, right?"

"Yeah, they were on Little Planet." Sonic said, recalling the adventure where he met Amy, as well as his first encounter with Metal Sonic.

"Well, my gloves have energy from one of the stones imbued into them." Silver explained. "The Time Stones allow complete control over time, so it allowed me to go back into the same timeline so I can change the future. However, since you used Chaos Control to travel…"

"It might send me to a completely different timeline." Sonic finished.

"Right. Now, I am not 100% sure about this, but it is a possibility." Silver said. "Are… you really worried about this though?"

"… Yeah, I am." Sonic said. "Not just with Tails and Tangle though… Knuckles, Whisper, Amy… even you… everyone is so much happier now… but if I go back, what if that all changes? What if their lives somehow end up worse because of it?"

"… Here's what I think. I think you should talk to Tails about it." Silver said. "And if you want my opinion about it. I wouldn't mind."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, if you go back, and we have to deal with Eggman again, then the future very well might change." Silver said. "But, then one of the closest friends I ever had would still be in my life. And that would make it all worth it."

"… That is really sappy, and you know it." Sonic said with a laugh.

"It's the truth though…" Silver said, slightly embarrassed.

"And I appreciate it." Sonic said. "I think you're right though. Maybe I should talk to Tails about this. After Cream's birthday though."

"Why after her birthday?" Silver asked.

"I don't want them to be worrying about this during her birthday." Sonic explained. "It's supposed to be a happy time after all."

"… Alright. Whatever you want to do. Just make sure you get it done." Silver said.

"You got it. So, I am curious, you said you have been staying here for a couple of years now, right?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah…?"

"Where exactly have you been living?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, I've been staying with Whisper is a-" Silver said before he quickly stopped himself.

"Oh? You and Whisper huh?" Sonic asked with a smirk.

"I-IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Silver said as he covered his red face.

"You sure? I seem to remember someone being a 'Big Fan' of hers when we first met. Also you were pretty excited when I teamed you up wither her to get that Chaos Emerald." Sonic said smugly.

"Uh… Well Sonic it was great seeing you again! I will be seeing you at Cream's birthday I guess so BYYYYYYYYEEEEE!" Silver said as he began flying off at high speeds.

"Oh yeah, he's got it bad." Sonic said before laughing.

Eventually, he decided it was high time to head back to Tails' place. So, he returned to Central City to spend some more time with Tails and his family.

**End of Chapter 8**

* * *

**Real quick, I want to address a guest review I received. Yes, in canon, Cream would be 21 years old after 15 years, as she is 6 in canon… wait holy sh*t she is 6 in canon… SHE IS GOING THROUGH ALL THIS CRUD IN THE COMICS RIGHT NOW, AND SHE IS ONLY SIX?! THIS POOR, POOR CHILD!… (this was written before the arc ended btw)**

**Anyways, as I was saying, In this story, as I stated before, everyone was aged up about two years. That is why Tails is 25 after 15 years, so Cream is going to be 23. If you don't like that I aged up the characters, just pretend that the fight with Eggman that kickstarts everything takes place two years AFTER the metal virus saga in the comics. Nothing from that arc really is important, other than Starline being missing at the time, but that really isn't a major plot point.**

**Anyways, now that that is out of the way, Silver! He is a good boy, and deserves to be happy! So, I made him happy! Horray! Also he and Whisper may or may not have some kind of thing going on there. I will leave their relationship up to your imagination. Also, yeah, that is how I am describing Silver's time travel in this story. It is never really explained, except in Sonic 06 but uh… yeah. Him never having Chaos Emeralds when he travels also points to that not being how he does it, so I went with this theory.**

**Also, I felt like Sonic confiding in Silver would be the most likely thing that he would do once meeting with the time traveler. After all, he is the only one who really has experience in the field, so Sonic could get the best possible answers that he could ask for. For those of you wondering, yes, Silver is an important character mainly because of his time traveling expertise. There will be more with him during the climax of the story. Speaking of that, we are getting close. I have plans for two more chapters, and the final sub-chapter before the climax of the story, being Cream's birthday. **

**For those of you wondering, the final Sub-Chapter, which is about Tails and Tangle getting together, will be right before Cream's birthday. I feel like that is the best part to post that. Also gives me enough time to make it as good as possible. So look forward to it!**

**For now though, I think I will let the next chapter be a surprise. So, see you then!**


	15. Rouge

**9: Rouge**

After Sonic's meeting with Silver, he returned to Tails' home where he spent the rest of the day and that night. When he awoke, he was greeted to the sight of some waffles.

"Morning, made you some breakfast!" Tails said as he put a plate on the table.

"Oh, thanks!" Sonic said before digging in.

"So, Amy wanted me to tell you that they want to see you at G.U.N. HQ again." Tails said.

"Really? What for?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know, they might of made some progress on finding Eggman though."

"Yeah, that would be something pretty important… it's either that, or Amy wants to ask me out… again." Sonic said with a laugh.

"That would be… honestly really weird… she is a good bit older than you after all." Tails said, joining in on the laugh.

"Oh wow, you're right…" Sonic said before finishing off the waffles. "Anyways, I should probably go and see what's up. Thanks for the waffles!"

And like that, he was gone.

"… It really is him… isn't it?" Said Tangle from behind Tails.

"Finally believe us?" Tails asked.

"Well… considering he was alone with Skye for a good couple of hours yesterday, and didn't do anything… yeah, I guess I do." Tangle said. Then, she began to shake. "But… that means that Eggman is back too… and if… no, when he finds out about Skye…"

"He'll become a target." Tails finished for her.

"Yeah…"

Tails then grabbed her hands. "We will keep him safe, no matter what. We are a lot stronger and smarter than we were fifteen years ago, so he won't stand a chance!"

This seemed to do the trick, as Tangle began to calm down. "… Right, I know we will. And I guess we got Sonic to help with that now too."

"Of course. He won't let anything happen to his family." Tails said with a smile. "And neither will we."

At that moment, Skye walked into the room, and Tails went ahead and prepared his breakfast.

However, something was still bothering Tangle.

_'Why did it seem like something was bothering Sonic when he came home yesterday?' _Tangle thought _'Did something happen? Maybe I should do some digging…'_

And with that, the Prowers sat down for some breakfast.

* * *

**G.U.N. HQ**

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Sonic asked as he walked alongside Amy.

"Well, while we don't have any info on his current location, we do know that Eggman has made contact with Starline." Amy explained.

"Really? How did you figure that out?"

"Omega intercepted some communications between two of Starline's bases. Again though, we don't know where he is, or what he is up to."

"Right, but we do know that he is up to something now…" Sonic said.

"Correct, so stay on guard, and tell Tails and Tangle to do the same." Amy said. "I'm worried that Eggman might target Skye…"

"Yeah, I think we would be crazy to not consider that possibility…" Sonic said. "Right, I will tell them when I go back… but is there a reason that you couldn't just… call us and tell us this?"

"Well, Rouge actually wanted to speak with you." Amy explained.

"Really?"

"Yeah, don't know why though."

"Alright, guess I'll go see her…" Sonic said before walking away.

After a couple of minutes of walking, which was accompanied by several looks of disbelief from G.U.N. Soldiers, Sonic finally found Rouge.

"Hey Big Blue." Rouge said from a table in the dining hall.

"Hey, there you are." Sonic said as he took a seat. "So, Amy said you wanted to talk to me?"

Rouge nodded. "First of all, I wanted to give you this." She said as she handed Sonic an envelope.

Opening the envelope, Sonic saw that it was an invitation.

"The wedding is in a couple of weeks, hope you can make it!" Rouge said.

"Thanks Rouge, I will definitely be there!" Sonic said as he slipped the invite back into the envelope.

"Also, you said you wanted to know what I was up to while you are gone, remember?"

"Oh yeah, guess I did say that." Sonic said. "Well, enlighten me!"

"Well, for the first couple of years after your little vanishing act, I mostly spent my time looking for you." Rouge said. "Turns out, when the worlds greatest form of defense disappears, the higher ups get a little upset, and want it found right away."

"Ok, I guess that makes sense." Sonic said.

"A couple of years later though, you were pronounced dead, and we gave up the search." Rouge finished. "After that, it was business as usual, although…"

"Right, Starline sucks as a evil mastermind. Got it." Sonic finished.

"Exactly, so things have been rather boring. That is, until Tails and Tangle hooked up."

"Is it just me… or does just about everything seem to center around those two?" Sonic asked.

Rouge simply laughed.

"Anyways, a few months later, after Knuckles and Amy stopped going out, he asked me out."

"Wait, he asked YOU?" Sonic asked, to which Rouge nodded. '_Huh, gotta give the guy more credit!'_

"Anyways, you should know the rest from there… although…"

"Something wrong?" Sonic asked.

"Truth be told, I've been thinking of retiring from G.U.N. after the wedding." Rouge admitted.

"Really? Why's that?"

"The time just seems right. I've been with the organization for quite some time now, and I think it's time to move on." Rouge explained.

"Well, if you think so, then congrats!" Sonic said. "So, anything else?"

"Nope, that just about does it."

"Cool! Well, I'll see you at Cream's?"

"See you there." Rouge said before Sonic did what he did best, and sped out of there.

* * *

**Meanwhile, back in Central City**

Tangle was sitting on a bench, lost in thought as she was waiting for someone.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Said a voice from behind her.

"Don't worry, I wasn't waiting too long."

"So… what did you want to ask me?"

"I just want you to give it to me straight Silver, what did you talk to Sonic about yesterday?"

**End of Chapter 9**

* * *

**Yeah, I forgot to update yesterday… hey, it was Pokemon Go Fest! Victini's my favorite Pokemon! I needed this!**

**… Anyways… Looks like Tangle is doing a bit of digging on Sonic's conversation with Silver from last time… but how does she know about that? Find out next time, in the final chapter before the two part finale!**

**I honestly don't have much to say, Rouge's retirement just felt like a good idea to have her do after being a part of G.U.N. for about as long as she's been around… plus fifteen years.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed Rouge's chapter… but who could possibly be left besides Cream? I will let that be a surprise… and no, it's not Big, as unfortunate as that may be… I seriously just couldn't think of anything to do with him… at all. So, I will see you tomorrow, for whoever that may be.**


	16. Starline

**10: Starline**

When Eggman opened his eyes, he immediately know that something was off. Not only was he in a giant crater, with the only part of his machine around still being his Egg Mobile, but the only other person around was Sonic, who was out cold. Also, the Chaos Emeralds were glowing.

While under normal circumstances, Eggman would capture and imprison Sonic, he decided against it.

"If Sonic wakes up before I return to base, it could be trouble." Eggman said to himself.

As such, he grabbed the emeralds, and got out of there as quickly as he could, leaving the Hedgehog behind in the crater.

"Great, so now I have to start again from square one…" Eggman said as he began to approach one of his old bases. "That's weird… was this place always in such good shape?"

Deciding to not let it bother him, he entered the base, only to notice that it was completely abandoned.

"Weird, I could of sworn I had some robots stationed here… one of which was Metal Sonic…"

This being the final straw, he decided to get to the bottom of this, and went to the central computer in the base, and began to open communications between the other bases.

Eventually, an unexpected face showed up on the screen… or did it?

"Listen, this better be important. I am very busy right now." Said a familiar looking platypus on the screen.

"…Starline?!" Eggman said.

"Wait… Eggman?!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN ONE OF MY BASES?!" Eggman shouted.

"YOU'RE ALIVE?!" Starline shouted at the same time.

"OF COURSE I AM ALIVE!"

"I HAD TO TAKE OVER AFTER YOU DISAPPEARED!"

"Wait, disappeared?"

"Yeah, you know, you were gone for fifteen years… Where did you go anyways?" Starline asked.

"I… didn't go anywhere… unless…" Eggman said before going deep into thought. "Perhaps the destruction of my robot's generator, which was being powered by the chaos emeralds caused a reaction in the energy and triggered Chaos Control, which sent me, and the hedgehog, into the future…"

"So… time travel." Starline concluded.

"In theory, yes."

"I see, that would explain the lack of aging." Starline deduced.

"Yes, well, I appreciate you keeping everything in the empire afloat during my absence. Especially since I fired you and all."

"Heh, I almost forgot about that." Starline said. "And I honestly don't think I have been doing a good job. Things haven't really gone well since you left."

"I see… well, nothing a little elbow grease can't fix! Why don't you catch me up on everything?"

"Very well…"

**A few moments later**

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Eggman shouted. "YOU LOST METAL SONIC?!"

"It was a good plan, I assure you! I just didn't count on Shadow being there at that very moment…" Starline explained. "I tried to use my warp topaz to get him out of there but that fox developed tech to counter act it…"

"Of course he did… clever little runt…" Eggman sighed. "Speaking of the Warp Topaz, how…?"

"Well, It took me a while, but I managed to synthesize a copy of it using some phantom ruby energy from one of your labs." Starline explained. "That stuff is actually really helpful… and it would of been a waste to not make another one after all the research I put into it."

"I guess not… alright, how do we fix this now…"

"Doctor, I feel I should warn you, the fox has become quite… capable, during your absence."

"Oh? How so?" Eggman asked.

"Well, you know how I just mentioned the Phantom Ruby?"

"Why do I feel like I am about to regret ever using that thing…" Eggman sighed out.

"Well…"

After a moment of explanation, Eggman just sighed.

"Great, so the runt is pretty much the greatest genius in the world… outside of myself of course, and he is essentially a good guy Infinite now…" Eggman said.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Starline said. "He's even married with a kid now and everything."

"Huh… who knew the runt had it in him…" Eggman said. "Say… who did he get married to? The rabbit?"

"The lemur, actually."

"Hmmm… she is actually a really competent fighter, so holding her hostage is out the window…" Eggman said, then he realized something. "Wait… you said he has a kid…?"

Starline then knew exactly what the doctor was planning. "Uh… doctor, I would highly advise against that…"

"Oh come now, there is no way that they would attack me at full strength with their precious child inside the machine I am operating!" Eggman said. "No-one would even… quick, when do you think they will all be together next?"

"That would be at the rabbit's birthday in four days, I was actually planning an attack when you called." Starline answered.

"Hmmm… four days… hardly enough time to draw out the plans for a robot, and then build it…" Eggman said. "Wait, you said that the fox has been building security robots lately, has he not?"

"Yes, that is correct."

Then, Eggman had a wicked smile on his face. "Very good... I have the perfect plan!"

And with that, the doctor went to work on what would surely be a long night.

* * *

**Central City**

"Uh… how did you know I was talking to Sonic yesterday?" Silver asked.

"I saw the footage from the security cameras we have set up in Tails' workshop." Tangle said.

"Oh… ok, so why do you want to know?"

"Sonic was acting a bit weird when he got back." Tangle said. "Like, he clearly has something on his mind, and it is bothering him."

"… I'm sorry Tangle, but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone…"

"Silver, please! He's done so much for Tails, and everyone really. I just want to help him with this one thing!" Tangle explained.

"That's the thing, you're part of the pr-" Silver started before swiftly covering his mouth.

"… I'm a part of the problem?" Tangle asked.

Silver just sighed. "Me and my big mouth… ok look. You figured this out on your own, and didn't hear it from me, got it?" Silver said.

"Got it."

Silver took a deep breath, before telling Tangle everything she wanted to know.

* * *

**Later, when Sonic returned from G.U.N.**

"Hey! I'm back!" Sonic said as he walked through the back door.

"Hey! Good timing! I was just making something to eat!" Tails said.

"Great! I'm starved!" Sonic said.

"It'll be ready in a bit… in the meantime though…" Tails said.

"What's up?"

"Tangle said that she wanted to talk to you, she's up on the roof waiting." Tails said.

"Ok then…"

Sonic then sped his way up to the roof, and saw Tangle just sitting there.

"Yo, Tails said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, sit down." Tangle said.

"So, what's up?" Sonic asked as he took a seat.

"Well, I wanted to let you know that I finally believe that it's really you." Tangle said.

"Ok, that's good to know." Sonic said. _'At least she won't be strangling me any time soon…'_

"That, and I just wanted to… reminisce a bit." Tangle said.

"You see, I used to REALLY look up to you. You were living my dream basically, living free, going around helping people, just having a new adventure every day… Truth be told though, I was jealous for a while."

"Jealous?"

"Yeah. Funnily enough, there was a Sonic fan club that some of the other kids in town started… I may or may not of told them that they should of had a Tangle fan club instead." Tangle said bashfully. "I then proceeded to tie myself into a knot as you came and saved everyone from a badnik…"

"You know, I do seem to remember a giant ball of fluff next to a bunch of kids who were being attacked by a robot…" Sonic said. "I guess it really stuck out to me!"

"Yeah, it was real embarrassing." Tangle said. "Honestly, I called you up here to just, get that off my chest, and apologize before you end up going back to your time."

At that words "back to your time" Tangle noticed Sonic wince a bit.

"Is that all? Tangle, it's fine! Don't worry about it."

"Well, that is a part of what I wanted to talk to you about… there is one other thing." Tangle said. "I told Tails this a lot when you disappeared, and I am going to tell you now."

"I know a sad face when I see one, and you got it."

"Uh… what are you…?"

"Sonic, are you worried about going back to your own time?" Tangle asked.

"H-how did you…?"

"I noticed you wince when I mentioned it." Tangle said. "So, tell me what's wrong."

Sonic sighed. "Sorry Tangle… but can we save this for another time? Don't get me wrong, I want to talk about this, and soon… but I just want to wait until after Cream's birthday."

"You don't want us to have it on our minds during the celebration I guess?"

"Yeah, exactly." Sonic said. "Don't worry though, right after, I'll talk to you and Tails about it."

Tangle just sighed. "Fine, but don't you dare forget."

"Never." Sonic said.

"Hey! Food's ready!" Tails called out from the back yard.

"Race you there!" Tangle said as she jumped off the roof, and used her tail to swing herself in through the back door.

"Hey! No fair!" Sonic said as he sped after her.

**End of Chapter 10**

* * *

**So Eggman seems to be up to something, and Tangle figured out exactly what is going on with Sonic. Not only that, but they agreed to talk after Cream's birthday.**

**I thought a chapter about Starline and Eggman's reunion was in order, and I hope that I did a good job with it. However, I didn't think it was really enough for a chapter, so I decided to through the Tangle and Sonic encounter in there as well.**

**Next up, is the final sub chapter! You already know what it's about. So I will see you next time for that!**


	17. Subchapter 5: Tails and Tangle

**Subchapter 5: Tangle and Tails**

**Spiral Hill Village, Nine Years after Sonic's disappearance**

Tangle was currently engaged in a battle with Dr. Starline. The platypus had been rather aggressive as of late, trying his best to get rid of Tails and his friends in order to make his world conquest that much easier, and Tangle was his current target.

Most of the villagers had already evacuated, but not all, and Tangle was determined to protect the stragglers with everything she had.

"Geez Starline, if you really wanted to knock me off, you could of picked a better place!" Tangle taunted as she used her tail to swing around the robot.

"Oh? And why's that?" Starline asked his mech swatted at the lemur, who nimbly dodged the attack.

"Cause we are in MY town, and I know every bit of this town like the back of my ha-" Tangle said before she crashed into something.

Looking back, she saw that it was a familiar looking chili dog stand.

"DANG IT RON!" Tangle shouted as Starline picked her up and chucked her into a nearby building.

"Ugh… hope no-one saw tha-" Tangle started before she got a good look around.

This was the Mineral Museum.

Jewel's Museum.

"Oh no… JEWEL?!" Tangle shouted, hoping that her friend wasn't here.

"Ugh… Tangle?" Said a voice from underneath some nearby rubble.

Acting quickly, Tangle rushed over and pulled away the rubble, revealing her best friend.

"Jewel! Are you ok?!" Tangle asked.

"Yeah… did you always have two heads?" Jewel asked.

"Ok, definitely not ok…" Tangle said. She then took a look around, and was not happy with what she saw.

Starline was right in front of the building, and about to bring his mech's giant fists down onto it.

"Oh no…" Was the last thing Tangle could say before the fists came down, and completely destroyed the building.

"Ha…HAHA! YES! TAKE THAT YOU INSUFFERABLE WELP!" Starline shouted out in victory before using his warp topaz to warp himself and the mech away.

After about a minute, some of the remains of the museum began to move. Eventually, Tangle's tail burst out, with Tangle climbing out with Jewel wrapped in her tail shortly after, both of which very injured.

"… That went terribly…" Tangle said before passing out.

—

**Two days later**

When Tangle woke up, everything hurt, especially her tail.

"Tangle?" Said a voice.

"Huh?" Tangle groaned out. Her vision was still very blurry, so all she was able to see was a yellow blob near her bed. Deciding that it probably wasn't important, she fell back asleep.

Three hours later, she finally woke up again. This time, her vision cleared enough to get a good look around.

She was in a hospital room from the look of things.

"How did I…?" Tangle said. Then it hit her. "Jewel!"

Worry immediately flooded through her body as she forced herself to get out of the bed, only to fall flat on her face onto the floor.

"Wha-huh? Tangle?!" Said the same voice from before.

Tangle looked up to see Tails walking towards her.

"What are you doing out of bed?!" Tails asked before scooping her up off the floor.

"Jewel! Where is she?!" Tangle asked frantically.

"She's going to be fine, she is resting up in the room next door." Tails said. "You were honestly the one who got the worst of it."

"R-really? That's good." Tangle said. "Her museum?"

Tails just sighed. "Completely destroyed, barely anything was still in one piece by the time we got there." Tails said.

Tangle just sighed. "Great… all that work… gone."

"I'm sorry Tangle…" Tails said.

"Don't be, it's my fault." Tangle said. "Shouldn't of gotten so careless…"

"Hey, everyone makes mistakes!" Tails said.

"Yeah, and this one mistake cost Jewel her livelihood, almost cost both of us our lives, and destroyed what was pretty much what we spent our entire lives working on." Tangle said in a frustrated tone. "I'm a a failure of a hero… aren't I?"

"What?! No, your an amazing hero!" Tails said.

"Great heroes don't almost get their best friends killed." Tangle said.

"But she's still alive, because you saved her."

"From something I caused…"

At this point, Tails had had enough.

"Listen, Tangle, you are NOT a failure!" Tails started. "You are one of the bravest, most selfless people on the planet. You have saved countless lives over the years, you have been an amazing source of positivity to not only me, but to the others, especially after Sonic vanished. You are smart, beautiful, and strong, and I will not just stand here while you are beating yourself up over this!"

Tangle was silent, trying to process what Tails just said. After a moment, she just laughed.

"Tails, you have given a lot of sappy speeches in the past, but that has to be the sappiest!" Tangle said as she continued to laugh. "Like, seriously, 'Smart, beautiful and strong'?! If I didn't know better, I would think that you were trying to say that you had a crush on me!"

"Well maybe I am!" Tails said before quickly covering his mouth.

The two just stayed in silence.

_'Did… did he really just say that?'_

_'DID I REALLY JUST SAY THAT?!'_

After a moment, Tangle finally was able to speak.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

But not very well.

Meanwhile, Tails was panicking.

_'Ok! MAYBE she will just decide to drop the subject and ignore my out of no-where confession!' _He thought.

"Uh… did… did you really mean that?"

_'CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP'_

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh."

"…Tails?"

Tails, after gathering all of the courage that he could, spoke again.

"Yes… yes I did." Tails said as his face turned red.

"O-oh…" Tangle said, face also red.

…

_'GREAT! NOW I MADE THINGS AWKWARD!' _Tails thought.

"Uh… sorry about that… I uh… didn't mean to make you upset…" He finally said.

"Don't appoligize… what you said was really sweet… and honestly, it really helped a lot." Tangle admitted.

"Well, that's good at least." Tails said.

"So… how long?" Tangle asked.

Tails just sighed. "I don't really know when this started, but it has been a while."

"Oh…" Tangle said. "So uh… how's about when I get out of here, we go out? Get some lunch or something I mean?" Tangle asked.

"…Huh?"

"What I am trying to say is, I am willing to give us a shot, if you are." Tangle admitted.

"O-OH! Yeah! We'll talk more about it later though! You should probably get some rest first!" Tails said.

"Yeah… probably a good idea…" Tangle said as her eyes began to close. "Just one more thing though… come closer?"

Tails complied, and when got close enough, Tangle used her tail to pull Tails' face in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thanks for everything, Tails."

"Uh… Uh…"

And with that, Tangle was asleep once again.

Deciding to let Tangle get her rest, Tails left the room. He found a nurse and told her that Tangle was awake for a bit, though the nurse was afraid that Tails had caught a fever, with his red face and all.

Eventually, he made his way out of the hospital, drove back to his workshop in the Cyclone, and expressed his current emotions in the only way he knew how.

"YES!"

Little did they know, a certain pink hedgehog saw the whole exchange in the hospital room.

* * *

**Two weeks later**

Tails was getting ready for the day, taking extra care to make sure that he looked absolutely perfect. The reason, that was simple.

Today was the day that Tangle was being let out of the hospital, which means their date was also today.

Satisfied with his appearance, Tails began to make his way for the door, when someone knocked on said door.

"Huh? Wonder who that could be?" Tails said as he opened the door, revealing an annoyed looking Knuckles.

"Hey Tails." Knuckles said.

"Oh! Hey Knuckles! What's up?" Tails asked.

"Doing Amy a favor… since I owe her one I guess…" Knuckles said.

"Oh? And that favor would be…?"

Knuckles just sighed.

"Knuckles?"

"We're SUPPOSED to be to help you get ready for your date." Said a new voice. Tails looked behind Knuckles to see Shadow standing.

"Shadow?… WAIT, HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" Tails asked.

"Apparently Amy heard your whole conversation in the hospital the other day." Knuckles said. "When she found out that you two were going on a date she said she had to, and I quote, 'make it the most amazing experience ever!'" He said, that last part being in his best (or worst?) Amy impression.

"W-Why would she…?" Tails asked.

"Beats me, but again, I owe her a favor, and I thought I would come and at least see if you are up for it." Knuckles said.

"Ok…? And why is Shadow…?"

"I am here cause I lost a bet…" Shadow said. "You just HAD to be the one to spill the beans first…"

"What…?" Tails said.

"Me and Rouge made a bet on who would confess to the other first, you or Tangle." Shadow said. "Sorry to say, I bet against you."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Tails shouted. "You mean, Tangle actually…?"

"Started liking you after you kicked Shadow's butt, yeah." Knuckles said to the Hedgehog's annoyance. "It was kinda obvious too, surprised the genius of the group didn't pick up on it!"

"… HUH?!"

"…I think we broke him." Knuckles said.

"You think?"

"Anyways, so we are here to help you get ready for the date." Knuckles said, pulling out what appeared to be a very nice outfit.

"Uh… we're just doing lunch… why do I need to dress up so nicely?"

"Cause Rouge got you a reservation at some nice restaurant." Shadow said. "She seems to be as into this as Amy…"

"Speaking of Amy… where is she?" Tails asked.

"Well…"

* * *

**Meanwhile, with Tangle**

"NOPE! NOT DOING IT!" Tangle shouted.

Amy and Rouge were in Tangle's hospital room, along with Jewel, who, while most of her injuries had healed, was currently sitting to not overexert herself, and trying to get the lemur to wear a yellow dress.

"Oh come on! The restaurant has a strict dress code!" Amy said.

"Then we aren't going to the restaurant!" Tangle argued.

"We already paid for it!" Amy argued back.

"Listen girl, she is not going to give up until you put on the dress." Rouge said.

"But… but…"

"Come on Tangle, we all know that you want to impress him, so what's the harm?" Jewel said with a smirk on her face.

"… Traitor…" Tangle grumbled out.

"Hey, just trying to help." Jewel said.

"Listen, I know for a FACT that Shadow and Knuckles are going to be able to get Tails to dress up." Amy said. "Do you really want to make him go through that only for you to not be prepared yourself?"

"I… uh…"

"Just one meal, that's all you have to deal with."

"Uh…"

"So, what's the harm?"

"… Fine… give me the dress."

And the girls cheered.

* * *

**Back with Tails**

Tails, with the help of Knuckles and Shadow, had finally finished getting ready for his date.

"Ok… so now what?" Tails asked.

"Well, now you meet Tangle at the hospital I guess?" Knuckles said, unsure about his answer.

"You guess?"

"Hey! I've never been on a date before! Don't look at me!" Knuckles said defensively. "Been too busy with guarding the Master Emerald and treasure hunting!"

The reminder of Knuckles' treasure hunter profession gave Tails an idea.

_'I'll talk to them later about that…'_

"You should probably get going…" Shadow said.

"Yeah, you're right." Tails said before leaving. "Thanks guys!"

"Go get em, tiger!" Knuckles said.

"Try to not completely embarrass yourself." Shadow said.

"I'll try!" Tails said before he got into his Cyclone and drove off.

"… We're going to spy on them, aren't we?" Knuckles asked.

"Rouge already planted the bug at their table." Shadow said before walking off.

"Right…" Knuckles said as he followed.

* * *

When Tails arrived at the hospital, he messaged Tangle to let her know he was there. After a few minutes of waiting, she finally walked out the doors.

"… Whoa…"

Tangle was wearing a yellow dress, along with yellow heals, as well as what appeared to be bracelets on her wrists and around her tail, quite the outfit compared to Tails' plain dress shirt and pants. Although, she still had some bandages wrapped around her head and her right leg.

"So… how do I look?" Tangle asked.

Tails responded in the most eloquent way that his brilliant mind could possibly think of.

"UUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

"Well then… glad you like it." Tangle said with a chuckle. "Just don't expect me to dress like this too often…"

"I uh… wouldn't expect you to. You look amazing, don't get me wrong… but…"

"It's not my style." Tangle finished for him.

"Yeah. Again, you look amazing! But I just can't imagine you dressing like this too often." Tails said.

"And that's fine… so uh… Amy and Rouge gave me an address to some restaurant in Sunset Hills… and they got a reservation… so…"

"Yeah, Shadow and Knuckles said as much… you don't have to go there if you don't want to." Tails said.

"No, it's fine. The food there has to be better than the food here." Tangle said as she pointed her thumb back towards the hospital.

Tails laughed at this. At least she was back to her normal self. "Alright, then let's get going!" Tails said as Tangle got into the Cyclone.

Thankfully, Sunset Hill was not far, so after about twenty minutes of driving and talking, the two arrived at their destination… and they immediately knew something was up.

"Uh… didn't Amy and Rouge say this place had a strict dress code?" Tangle asked.

Sure enough, the patrons of the restaurant were not dressed in anything nearly as good as what they were wearing.

"… I can't help but feel like we were tricked…" Tails groaned out.

"Well… maybe this is the wrong place!" Tangle said as they walked inside.

"Ah, Mr. Prower, we have been expecting you!" Said the man at the front desk.

"… Or we were tricked…"

"We have a special table prepared for two of our worlds greatest heroes. If you would follow me please." The man said as he began to lead the two.

'_Ok, first date… ever… and it is with the girl you have had a crush on for who knows how long! You got this Tails! YOU GOT THIS!_' Tails thought.

'_I swear, I am going to kill those two when I see them!_' Tangle thought before she took a look at Tails. She then remembered what he said to her at the hospital. '_But… if he really does like how I look right now… maybe it was worth it… but just this once.'_

As the duo sat down at their table, on a veranda overlooking the city, the rest of their friends were hiding out inside some bushes.

"Ok, so they are at the table. Rouge, is that thing working?" Amy asked as she saw the two through her binoculars.

"Hold on… yes! We have audio!" Rouge responded as the radio in front of her came to life.

"Well, at least this place IS nice…" Tails said through the radio.

"Yeah, totally gonna get those two back for tricking me though." Tangle responded. "Though this view is really nice."

"You got that right…" Tails said.

"So uh… now what?" Tangle asked.

"Uh… I don't really know? I guess we just… talk."

"Ok then… so, come up with any new inventions lately?"

And so, the two of them began to talk, and reminisced on all the good times that they had together.

"So… what do you think Sonic would think about all of this?" Tails asked.

Tangle couldn't help but smile at the question. Tails had finally accepted the fact that Sonic was gone a while ago, but he still admired the blue hedgehog… everyone did.

"I think he would be proud of you… either that or incredibly protective." Tangle answered. "Though, my money would be on proud."

"Yeah, I think so too." Tails said. "So, I had an idea."

"Ok?"

"You know how Jewel's museum was destroyed?" Tails asked.

"Ugh, don't remind me…" Tangle said as she slumped into her chair.

"Oh… right, sorry. Anyways, I was talking to Knuckles earlier, and it gave me an idea!" Tails said.

"And that is?"

"Well, maybe the two of you could go treasure hunting together every now and then." Tails said. "You love adventure, and he is an expert at it, so it would be a great way for you to start replacing everything in the museum!"

"Hey yeah! That's a great idea!" Tangle said. "I'll talk to him about it next time I see him!"

"I hope it works out for you!" Tails said.

Then, he noticed something. Out of a nervous habit, he ran his hand along the bottom of the table they were sitting at, and noticed a weird lump. It didn't take long for him to realize what it might be.

As such, he mouthed the worlds "Play along" to Tangle, who nodded in response.

"Heck, I bet you can get him to donate the Master Emerald to the museum! A gem that big oughta bring in quite the crowd." Tails said.

"Yeah! That's a great idea! Heck, I bet he wouldn't mind if I just went ahead and took it!"

"WHAT?!" Said a very angry voice in the distance.

"… They've been spying on us, haven't they…"

"Yup."

* * *

**Later**

"Sorry…" Amy said to the annoyed couple.

"Seriously, you went through all that effort just to spy on us?" Tangle asked.

"We just wanted to make sure that everything went perfectly!" Amy explained. "… we just want you two to be happy is all…"

Tails smiled at this. "Well, at least you meant well. Thanks Amy, everyone."

"That aside, you want to go on a treasure hunt, huh?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Sure, there are some ruins I have been meaning to explore, and having a friend along could be helpful." Knuckles said before extending his hand, which Tangle took. "Once that's all healed up, we can talk details." He said as he pointed to Tangle's leg.

"You got it!"

"Anyways, we should probably let the two of you finish your date… in peace." Rouge said before walking away. "Have fun!"

"See you guys later!" Tails said with a wave. "So… now what?"

"Why don't we just walk around."

And with that, the two began to walk away.

"You know, they really are cute together…" Amy said.

"Eh…" Shadow said.

Amy continued to watch them walk away, and saw Tangle laugh at something Tails had said.

"Hey Rouge… is that offer to join G.U.N. still on the table?" Amy asked.

"Of course! Why? Are you reconsidering?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, I think I… wait… what's that?" Amy asked as she noticed something in the sky. "… Oh you have got to be kidding me…"

* * *

"Seriously?! He was actually talking to a destroyed robot?" Tangle said while trying to hold back her laughter.

"Yup, that was something I did not expect to see that day!" Tails said, recalling his adventure with Sonic to the Interstellar Amusement park.

He then noticed Tangle wince in pain.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine… leg just feels a bit sore though." Tangle said, gesturing to her bandaged leg.

Tails then took a good look around.

"You trust me, right?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Tails then took off, spinning his namesakes to take flight. "Grab on!"

Complying, Tangle grabbed Tails' hands before he flew to a nearby rooftop.

"Ok, so why did you… oh." Tangle said as she got a look at the view.

"This place is called Sunset Heights for a reason."

Tangle could only stare in awe at the beautiful sunset before her.

"Yeah… I can see that reason." Tangle said.

The two then just sat down and enjoyed the view.

"So… you had a good time, right?" Tails asked.

"Hmmmm yeah, I'd say so. Chewing out the others for spying on us was cathartic at least." Tangle said, no longer bitter at them for tricking her… ok, maybe still a little. "And this view is great too."

"I'd say the best part was the company…" Tails said.

"Geez, when did you get so corny?" Tangle said with a laugh. "That was very sweet though."

"… Honestly, that line was something Sonic always told me I should say at the end of a date…" Tails said bashfully.

"…Yeah, sounds like something he would say." Tangle said with a laugh.

"… So, you want to do this again sometime?" Tails asked.

"Hmmm… I don't know…" Tangle said before noticing Tails looking very nervous. "Sure! Something less fancy next time though."

"Right, of course!" Tails said.

Then, their eyes locked. They began to slowly drift towards each other, until finally…

**CRASH**

The sound of something crashing right behind them caused the two of them to jump away from each other.

When the dust settled, they saw Shadow, standing over a completely trashed Metal Sonic.

"… Starline was planning a sneak attack?" Tails asked.

"Seems to be the case." Shadow said.

"Thanks for taking care of it." Tangle said.

"No problem." Shadow said before taking Metal Sonic away.

Tangle and Tails went back to watching the Sunset, just enjoying each other's company.

"Wait… where am I going to stay until my house is fixed up?" Tangle asked.

Tails just turned red.

**End of Subchapter 5**

* * *

**This is one of the biggest chapters I have ever written, and it took me the longest too. I started this pretty much at the beginning of when I started posting this story, and I am finally finishing this the 23rd of July… I really wanted to take my time on this one it was special to me... I still have written longer in a future story I am writing though. :)**

**So! Let's talk about everything that happened! Tails and Tangle are together now… finally. Amy is finally reconsidering Rouge's offer. Knuckles is going to treasure hunt with Tangle now, and the mineral museum is trashed. Also Metal Sonic is trashed. That about sums it all up!**

**All that's left is the finale! I hope you are ready!… Cause the finale is! Yup, I have it all written out and ready to post! So we are finishing this over the next couple of days!**

**So, I will see you all tomorrow for part 1 of the finale, Cream!**


	18. Cream

**11: Cream**

"So… how exactly am I gonna make an entrance?" Sonic asked.

"You could just walk in and say 'hi' you know…" Tangle sighed.

"Yeah, but I am showing up to her birthday for the first time in fifteen years… it has to be dramatic!" Sonic explained. "I want one dramatic entrance, ok!"

"Ok… so you can figure it out yourself then." Tangle said. "Good luck with that."

"Ugh, fine." Sonic said, then he noticed something.

"Hmmmm…"

Skye was currently sitting in the back yard, in deep thought.

"Hey Skye! What's going on?" Sonic asked his nephew.

"… I wawted to give Ms. Cweam a pwesent for her biwthday, but I don't know what to give her…" Skye answered.

"Hmm… that does sound like a problem…" Sonic said before looking around. Then, he got an idea.

"Hey Tails! I'm taking Skye out for a bit!" Sonic called over.

"Oh, ok? What for?" Tails asked.

Sonic then went over and whispered into the fox's ear.

"Oh, that sounds like a great idea!" Tails said. "Go on, have fun! But be back in time for dinner."

"You got it!" Sonic said before lifting Skye up onto his shoulders. "Hang on tight Skye!"

And with that, Sonic sped off to spend the day with his nephew.

—

**The Next Day, Cream's house**

"So, Cream moved out huh?" Sonic asked as the house came into view.

"Yeah, Vanilla was a wreck on moving day though." Tails said, then followed Sonic's gaze as he noticed that Vanilla's house was less than a mile away.

"Well, guess she wanted to stay close to her roots, huh?" Sonic said with a laugh. "Anyways, Skye, you know what to do, right?"

"Yeah! Just give her the pwesent and say 'Happy Biwthday!' Wight?" Skye asked.

"That's right!" Sonic said before hopping into a nearby bush. "Good luck!"

And with that, the Prowers walked up to the front door and knocked. Only for Gemerl to answer.

"Greetings Prowers."

"Hey Gemerl, is Cream around?" Tails asked.

"Yes, however, I must inquire about the lifeform in that bush." The robot asked as he pointed to the bush that Sonic was hiding in.

"It's a surprise, trust us, Cream will love it." Tangle said. "Speaking of, can you go get her?"

"Affirmative." Gemerl said before walking away.

After a moment, Cream came to the door.

"Hey you three! It's great to see you!" Cream said before pulling Tails and Tangle into a hug.

When the three separated, Tails looked towards Skye. "Happy Birthday Cream, I think Skye got something for you?"

"Oh! Uh, wight." Skye said before pulling out the present. "Happy Biwthday Ms. Cweam!"

In his hands was a crown, a crown of flowers.

"Oh, thank you so much Skye!" Cream said before pulled the boy into a hug. When they separated, she noticed something.

"Wait… these are sunflowers… right?" Cream asked.

"You're the flower expert." Tails said.

"You don't need to be one to recognize sunflowers Tails…anyways, it's just that, whenever I gave Sonic a flower crown when I was younger, he would give me one just like this as thank you." Cream explained. "It's even made with the same, sloppy method that Sonic always did."

"Yeah, I know!" Skye said with a smile.

"But… how? How do you know that? The only one who knew about that was…"

"Cause I told him about it." Said a voice from behind her.

Cream turned around to see Sonic grinning.

"… Gemerl?" Cream said. "Eliminate the imposter."

"…"

"Why aren't you…?"

"I must inquire as to what imposter you wish for me to eliminate." Gemerl said.

"Uh, the Sonic one?"

"There is no such thing in the premises."

"What? But that would mean…" Cream said as she began to realize what was happening.

And she suddenly leapt at the hedgehog and gave him a hug.

"Sonic!" Cream shouted.

"Whoa! Easy there!" Sonic said. "And what happened to calling me 'Mr. Sonic?'"

"Oh… uh…" Cream said as she separated from the hedgehog. "Sorry, Mr. Sonic."

"Nah, it's fine, you're older than me now anyways."

"Wait, what?" Cream asked.

"We'll explain inside. Come on!" Sonic said. "Oh, and Happy Birthday! I hope you don't mind that I didn't bring a gift."

"It's fine! You being here is enough!" Cream said.

"Well, let's get to it!" Sonic said as everyone went inside.

And with that, the party began. Little by little, more and more friends began to arrive. While most of them Sonic had already met with, there were a couple of people that were pleasantly surprised at the hedgehog's presence, like Jewel and Vanilla.

"AH! GHOST SONIC!" Jewel shouted as she hid behind a laughing Tangle.

"Relax, it's the real Sonic." Tangle said. "Turns out he time traveled."

"O-oh! Well, it's good to see you again Sonic!" Jewel said.

"Good to see you too Jewel." Sonic said. "Glad to see you haven't changed much."

"Well, not everyone is gonna change as much as Tangle here." Jewel said. "She is a lot less impulsive now, in case you didn't notice."

"Yeah, I guess the whole treasure hunting with Knuckles thing did that." Sonic said.

"Well, that and having Skye." Jewel said.

"True enough." Sonic said. "By the way, I heard about the old museum. I'm sorry that had to happen to you."

"It's fine, we managed to make the new one bigger and better, so I guess it was all for the best." Jewel said. "You should come by and take a look some time!"

"I think I will." Sonic said.

The two continued to talk like this for a bit before going to see the others.

And he was pleasantly surprised at a new arrival.

"Blaze?!" Sonic asked when he saw the cat walk into the room.

"Sonic?! You're alive?!" Blaze asked, equally surprised.

"Yeah, long story short, time travel." Sonic explained.

"Oh… well, that's different from my theory by a long shot…" Blaze said.

"And that was?"

"Truth be told, I thought you traveled to my dimension." Blaze explained. "I spent a good bit of time with Marine island hopping, hoping to find you and Eggman."

"Yeah, I can see why you would think that." Sonic said. "Sorry to make you go through all of that effort, only for me to not end up being there."

"It's not a problem. I was happy to at least help." Blaze said.

"So, other than looking for me, what else have you been up to?" Sonic asked.

"Mostly the same stuff. Keeping the peace, guarding the Sol Emeralds, the usual." Blaze explained.

"That's right, you still had Eggman Nega to deal with, didn't you?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, thankfully he never tried to come here though." Blaze said.

"That's good. Well, I should let you go see Cream, she'd probably be really happy to see you." Sonic said.

"Of course, we will talk more later." Blaze said before walking off.

Sonic then went to chat with some more friends, eventually making his way over to Tangle.

"So, Tails told me about this time that you were in a space amusement park…" Tangle said. "Did you really talk to a dead robot?"

"Uh… yeah… not my greatest moment…" Sonic groaned out.

"Don't worry about it, we all have days like that." Tangle said with a playful nudge.

"Where's Skye by the way?" Sonic asked.

"He's in the back playing with Cheese and Chacola." Tangle responded.

"That's good. Surprised that those two didn't really change at all…" Sonic said.

"Chao Reincarnation I think Cream said it was? She takes really good care of them, so they do it a lot she said." Tangle explained. "I have no idea what any of that means to be honest."

"Yeah, should of figured that much." Sonic said.

"Now, don't you forget your promise!" Tangle said. "Right when we get home and put Skye to bed, you're talking to us!"

"Yeah yeah, I know." Sonic said.

Then, they heard a scream.

"What was that?!" Jewel asked.

"Sounds like it came from… oh no." Tails said before he and Tangle rushed to the back yard, with Sonic close behind them.

It's been years since they had a real threat to deal with.

This was the one occasion that they would let their guard down.

And they were already regretting it.

Cause standing in front of them was Eggman, piloting a giant mech. And inside the mech's chest, was Skye.

**End of Chapter 11**

* * *

**So, Eggman's here now, and he has Skye… ruh roh.**

**This is it folks! The final battle is about to begin! It's everyone vs Eggman!**

**This chapter is actually special to me, as it is is officially the last chapter I had to finish writing! Yup! I am all done!… Yeah, I go out of order sometimes.**

**Anyways, about this chapter. It really was less about Cream and more about the party. We already found out about her being a florist during the Skye minichapter, so all that really needed to be said was that she moved out. I can't imagine her living too far away from her mother though, so I included that little gag at the beginning. **

**We did get to catch up with Blaze though! I didn't really have too much with her planned, in fact her addition was a last minute thing I made a couple of days ago, so I didn't want to make a whole chapter for her… nor would I know how to do so, so I put her here. It made the most sense to have her be at Cream's birthday, considering the friendship they made during Sonic Rush. **

**I also wanted to have Jewel here for a bit, so I figured a small reunion with them was in order.**

**In case you're wondering about Vanilla, I like to imagine that Sonic was gonna talk to her, but didn't get the chance before Eggman came into the picture.**

**Not really much left to say, so I will see you tomorrow for the grand finale: Sonic and Eggman**


	19. Sonic And Eggman

**12: Sonic and Eggman**

"Let him go Eggman!" Sonic shouted.

"Hmmm… let me think about it… How about no?" Eggman said with a laugh. "Here's the deal, you all surrender, and I will let him live! Sound good?"

"…Eggman…" Said a very angry voice behind Sonic, who turned around and saw something he never expected.

Tails was absolutely furious.

"YOU LET MY SON GO RIGHT NOW!" Tails shouted.

"Jeez, did you not hear me? I said…"

"I don't care WHAT you said! You let him go now and I won't rip your mustache off after I completely trash your robot!" Tails said. "And that is only the first thing I would do!"

"Oh please! Like you would attack me with your precious little boy is right here, would you?" Eggman asked.

"Watch me." Tails said before charging at the bot at an incredible speed, before delivering a powerful blow to the machine's leg. While this didn't seem to cause any damage, it did knock him off balance, which gave Tails the opportunity to bend the cage bars apart just barely enough for Skye to escape before flying back to the others with his son in tow.

Though he seemed to be incredibly out of breath from that last part.

"What?! How did you?!" Eggman shouted.

"Trust me Eggman, trying to take Skye was a mistake…" Amy said. "Tails is really protective of him… heck, last time Starline tried that… well, I'm sure he told you all about it."

"Uh… I didn't give him the chance to, actually…"

"Well, let's just say it wasn't pleasant for him." Amy said. "There's a child here after all."

"… No matter! No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to beat this robot!" Eggman proclaimed.

"And… and what's so special about… oh… oh no…" Tails gasped out.

"Oh, so you finally recognized it, did you?"

"Tails… what's going on?" Sonic asked.

"That's… the super robot I've been working on…" Tails explained. "I made it to be virtually unstoppable!"

"Ok, but you put in a fail safe, right?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, but knowing Eggman…" Tails said.

"He probably removed it…" Sonic concluded.

"And not only that, but I managed to solve the little issue you seemed to be having with this baby." Eggman said with a laugh.

Sonic could practically see the color disappear from Tails' face. "And that would be…?"

"… The power supply." Tails said as Eggman revealed the seven chaos emeralds.

"…Nerts…"

"This is the end, Hedgehog!" Eggman said before charging at the group.

"Jewel! Take Skye away from here!" Tangle shouted over to her best friend.

"Ok!" Jewel said as she took Skye's hands and flew away with the young fox in tow.

"So… got any ideas?" Sonic asked.

"Well, we don't have the Master Emerald this time… so wing it?" Tails said. "Maybe try to take and use the emeralds against him?"

"Sounds like a plan to me! I'll get his attention, while you all do your thing!" Sonic said as he sped towards the robot. "So Eggman, guess this means you aren't the greatest genius in the world!"

"How do you figure that?" Eggman said as he swatted the robot's hand at the hedgehog.

"Well, your ultimate robot wasn't really made by you, was it?" Sonic taunted as he dodged. "How does it feel to be completely outdone?"

"Please! He may have come up with the plans, but I was the one who made it work!" Eggman said as the robot threw a punch.

"Yeah, but that's only because he didn't have the Chaos Emeralds. I'm sure if he had just one, he would figured it out just as easy, if not made it better!" Sonic continued to taunt.

"Yeah right! That little runt would never…" Eggman started as he had his robot repeatedly throw out attacks, which Sonic was easily able to dodge.

"But he isn't so little anymore, is he?" Sonic asked. "In fact, he's become more of a hero than I have ever been, and more of a genius than you ever will be."

Everyone else began to launch their attacks at this point, but none of them were able to damage the emerald charged machine.

"Our attacks aren't working!" Amy shouted as her hammer bounced off of the machine.

"Keep trying! There has to be some kind of week point! There always is!" Knuckles said as he charged at the machine to try and punch it, only to be knocked away.

Espio tried throwing some ninja stars, but they just bounced off.

Tails created a few of energy cannons, but they were unable to do anything.

Shadow tried spin dashing into the machine multiple times, but he just bounced off of it.

Tangle tried to trip up the robot with her tail, but it was quickly grabbed and she was chucked into a nearby tree.

"Tangle!" "Mommy!" Tails and Skye shouted as Tails went to check on her.

"I'm fine, it'll take a lot more than that to keep me down!" Tangle said as she got up.

"We have to do something about that energy…" Tails said. "If we had the Master Emerald, or some energy from it, then we might have a chance, but…"

Sonic then got an idea. "Everyone grew up so much while we were away… and it is because of everything they went through these past fifteen years, that we will beat you!"

"SHADOW! HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" He then suddenly shouted.

Shadow, who seemed to quickly catch onto Sonic's idea, took off his inhibitor rings.

He then charged into the robot with blinding speed, and managed to push it away from the group and the house.

"CHAOS!"

"Please, like that will do anything to…" Eggman started.

"BLAST!" Shadow shouted before the entire area was engulfed in a massive explosion of energy…

When the dust cleared, it became clear what Sonic's goal was there.

"WHAT?!" Eggman shouted as he suddenly became unable to move his machine, which suffered quite a bit of damage from that attack.

"You really should of done your homework Eggman. If you did, you would know that Shadow's been charged up on Master Emerald energy for quite a while now!" Sonic said.

"Good think you remembered that, it's easy to forget considering how long it's been since they started doing that." Tails said.

"Wouldn't of remembered if I didn't just find out about it the other day." Sonic said with a laugh. "So… let's finish this."

And so, everyone stood together, ready to do just that.

Shadow fired several chaos spears.

Knuckles threw rapid fire punches, while Rouge hit him with a drill kick.

Whisper used her bike's spike function to cut straight through the robot's leg.

"Go Team!" Charmy cheered as he waved a tiny flag, while Vector and Espio attacked the machine.

Silver fired a blast of psychic energy.

Blaze fired a massive fire ball.

Amy smashed it with her hammer.

Finally, Tails and Tangle did a rolling combo attack.

"Awwww… that was supposed to be our thing!" Sonic said as the two of them landed in front of him.

"Well excuse me for wanting my favorite combo move to be able to be done with my wife." Tails said with a laugh.

"It took us weeks to get that down." Tangle added.

"Alright, fine. I guess I can accept that." Sonic said with a laugh. "Ready to finish this?"

He held out his fist.

"Ready." Tails said.

Their fists connected.

"DOUBLE BOOST!"

The two suddenly shot forward at a blinding speed, and tore a massive hold in the chest of the robot, completely destroying it.

"And that, is how it's done!" Sonic said before fist bumping with Tails.

"You said it. Felt great to do that again after so long." Tails said.

The two of them proceeded to walk back to the group.

"Now that that's done…" Tangle said before charging at the robot. "WHERE ARE YOU SO I CAN TEAR YOUR HEAD OFF?!"

"… Uh…" Sonic was completely dumbfounded.

"Yeah… she is waaaaay more protective of Skye than I am in case you couldn't tell… she just has much better control over it than I do." Tails explained.

"Uh… yeah, I gathered that."

"He's not here!" Tangle shouted as she chucked a hunk of metal to the side. "HOW IS HE NOT HERE?! WHERE DID HE GO?!"

"Don't tell me he got away…" Amy groaned out.

"To the contrary! I am right here!" Said Eggman from behind everyone. "It's a good thing Starline had a spare one of these I could borrow."

The first thing they noticed was the Warp Topaz in his glove, the next was Jewel, who was on the ground, hand on her head. The last… was Skye.

"Skye!" Tails shouted before he began to run towards him.

"Ah ah ah!" Eggman said before he aimed a blaster at Skye's head. "One false move, and your precious little boy is history!"

Sonic growled at this. They were stuck. Even he wasn't fast enough to save Skye here…

"Now, if you don't mind, I will be taking my chaos emeralds, and my hostage here and be on my wa-GRRRK!" Eggman said before getting cut off by something, or rather, someone, no-one expected.

Skye.

His tails had twisted together and were rammed into Eggman's face… and then some.

Everyone just stared in shock at the fox's super extended tails as Eggman fell unconscious… except for Tangle who just had an incredibly proud look on her face.

"THAT'S MY BOY!" Tangle said as she ran over and gave her son a hug, which Tails joined in on not much later.

"Guess that explains the tree climbing." Sonic said with a laugh.

Everyone then proceeded to praise Skye for his bravery, and for knocking out Eggman, which made the young fox very happy.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news… but we have something that needs to be addressed." Shadow said.

"We do?" Tails asked. "What are you… oh."

Shadow was holding the Chaos Emeralds and the unconscious Eggman, with the Warp Topaz removed from his possession .

Everything needed to send Sonic home was here.

"Oh, I guess… it's time for me to go?" Sonic asked.

"I… I guess so." Tails said, starting to tear up. "It…really was great to see you again."

"Take care of our past selves, ok?" Amy said.

"…About that…" Sonic said.

Tangle and Silver then started to look very worried, which Tails immediately noticed.

"…What's up?" Tails asked.

"I guess we're having this conversation now… aren't we?" Tangle asked.

"Seems to be that way…" Sonic said before sighing. "What if… I didn't go back?"

"Why wouldn't you go back?" Tails asked.

"It's just… look at all of you. You are all so happy now, and it was all because me and Eggman weren't in the picture… what if us going back changes everything?"

"Amy and Whisper might not of joined G.U.N. …Rouge and Knuckles wouldn't be engaged… Tails and Tangle wouldn't… well, have all of this…"

"…Seriously?" Tails asked. "THAT is what you are so worried about?!"

"Huh? Aren't you worried?! Everything you have right now could be gone!" Sonic said.

"Why would it?" Tails asked. "After all, you will make sure that we will be happy, won't you?"

"… What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"Geez, do I have to spell it out for you? You know about everything that happened to us here. You can guide us towards this future! You can make sure that we have our happy lives just like you want us to! And we won't even have to do all of it without you!"

"I thought that was why you were going around and catching up with everyone in the first place…" Tangle said. "THIS is why you were so worried this entire time?"

Truth be told, because of her conversation with Silver the other day, she already knew all of this, but she just wanted the hedgehog to admit he was being dumb.

"Uh… yeah?" Sonic said. "Do you seriously trust me to do all of that?"

"Dude, how many times have you saved the planet?" Tangle asked. "It's like I said during that whole virus thing. You're Sonic The Hedgehog! You'll set this right. I KNOW you will!"

Sonic just smiled at the memory. "Thanks… I guess I was just being…"

"Silly?"

"Paranoid?"

"An idiot?"

"Yeah, those…"

"So, feeling a bit better about going back now?" Tangle asked.

"Yeah, I think I am." Sonic said.

"We'll be counting on you… little bro." Tails said as he pulled Sonic into a hug.

"I may be younger than you right now, but I am still the big bro." Sonic said as he hugged back.

"Just let me have it this one time."

"Fine…"

And then, everyone else joined in, except for Shadow, who just watched.

"Just… one more thing Sonic." Tangle said before she pulled a camera out of the house with her tail.

Sonic smiled as he got into position to take a picture with Tails, Tangle, and Skye.

His first picture with his family.

When Amy took the picture, Sonic was surprised that it developed right from the camera then and there.

"A lot higher quality than polaroids, if I do say so myself!" Tails said as he took the camera and picture from Amy. "Good thing I always take this with me to these gatherings, thanks for grabbing it Tangle."

Tangle just smiled, before Tails gave the picture to Sonic. "Just a reminder of what you're fighting for."

"Right, thanks a lot."

"*Sniff* Well, you better get going. Take care!" Tails said.

"Right… take care of yourselves." Sonic said before he kneeled down to Skye's level. "Take care of your parents for me, ok Skye?"

"I… I will." Skye said, seeming to begin to figure out what was happening, as his eyes were filled with tears.

And so, after a pat on his nephew's head, Sonic turned towards Shadow, and took the Emeralds and Eggman from him.

"Thanks for everything." Shadow said as he extended his hand.

"Same to you." Sonic replied as he shook his hand.

"Sonic." Silver said before stepping forward. "This might be obvious, but you really shouldn't mention any of this to any of us in the past. It could cause some… issues."

"Alright, you're the expert on this I guess." Sonic said.

And with that, he turned into Super Sonic.

"Before I go, I just want to say how proud I am of all of you. I always worried about what would happen if… well, if I wasn't in the picture anymore. But now, I know that even if that does happen, you will all be fine. So thanks, and I wish you all the best!"

"Same goes to you, Sonic." Knuckles said.

"Sorry I can't make the wedding Knux. I'll make it in my timeline though." Sonic said.

"You better."

Sonic just smiled.

"And Amy? I hope you find someone one day." Sonic said.

"Thank you Sonic."

"And one last thing…" Sonic said before he had a massive grin on his face.

"HEY WHISPER! SILVER HAS A HUUUUUUUUUGE CRUSH ON YOU!"

"Wait… huh?" Whisper said as her face turned red.

"SONIC, YOU SON OF A-"

"Chaos Control!"

And just like that, the area was covered in a blinding light. And when it faded, Sonic and Eggman were gone.

"Bye Uncle Sonic…"

**The End.**

**—**

**And so, it (finally) comes to an end.**

**Hope you liked that little twist with Skye there, I had the idea in my head from the beginning, and I had to use it.**

**Also, that little bit with Sonic outing Silver's crush has an interesting story behind it. I said before that I was thinking about rewriting this story for a while. I actually had a good idea of what I was going to change in that rewrite. One of those was that Tails and Tangle wouldn't be together yet, but rather still crushing on each other, while Silver and Whisper would be the ones who were already together… aside from Knuckles and Rouge. I was planning on having Sonic reveal Tails' crush on Tangle before going back in time, but because I decided against the rewrite, I decided to switch it to this! Just something I thought I would share.**

**Anyways, the main story is done, the sub stories are done, so there isn't anything left… right?**

**About that… every good game has a good post game! Sonic still has work to do in his own time, and there are still some stories left to tell that didn't quite make it into the main story.**

**As such, I am happy to say that, along with a sequel to this story, I am going to be continuing this one, with what I will be calling the post game!**

**Basically, the sequel is going to be for Tails and crew in the future, while the postgame is going to for Sonic in the regular time.**

**Gonna be a bit before I start posting those, I want to get further along in writing them… hopefully this good groove I have going lasts a bit so I can finish them. Who knows, I am writing this over a week before I post it, so maybe everything is ready… yeah no, I got a good bit of the sequel done, but not all of it. It will be a bit, but I will do my best. Post game does have the first chapter done though, so I will post that tomorrow!**

**So, I hope you enjoyed the main story, and I will see you next time for Chapter 1 of the Post-Game: Return and New Power!**


	20. PG 1: Return and New Power

**Post-Game 1: Return and New Power**

**Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the post-game. It is high time that Sonic got to experience everything that happened over those Fifteen years that he was gone. This will include just about every subchapter that I have written for this story, as well as some other things. I will be mostly cutting to the new and important things, so if you want to see everything that happens, maybe read the subchapters again.**

**Any-who, here is the first chapter of the post-game.**

* * *

**Angel Island, one week after Sonic's disappearance**

When Sonic opened his eyes, he saw that he was surrounded by trees, speeding off to the distance, he saw the shrine of the Master Emerald, signifying that he was back on Angel Island.

Then, he realized his mistake.

"Eggman!" Sonic shouted before running back to where he was before.

When he got there, he saw that Eggman was gone.

"Geez, he's a slippery one…" Sonic said. "I wonder when I am… geez that sounded weird…"

Running to the edge of the island, he saw that it was near a mountain. So, building up speed, he leapt off of the island and landed on the mountain, and he began running.

Eventually, he found a small town. He quickly searched around until he found a newspaper.

"Let's see… looks like my disappearance was about a week ago… that would mean!" Sonic said with a realization. He then sped off towards Central City.

* * *

**Central City Hospital, Tails' room**

"TAILS?!"

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Said Tails.

"Oh thank goodness!" Amy said before rushing to Tails' side. "We were all so worried about you!"

"How…?" Tails said.

"The machine that you were working with exploded… you were in really bad shape." Tangle explained.

"You've been here for about four days now." Jewel added.

"No… how's Sonic?"

The room fell silent.

"Tails…" Tangle started.

"I'm right here buddy." Sonic said from the door.

Sonic's voice caught everyone off guard, as the three girls turned to the door to see their friend standing there.

"SONIC!" Everyone in the room shouted as they went over to give their friend a hug, minus Tails, who was stuck in the bed.

"Hey, you miss me?" Sonic asked.

"Uh, YEAH?!" Amy said. "Where were you?!"

"The future." Sonic said simply.

"The… wha?" Tangle asked.

"Well, I guess it would be the present now…" Sonic lied, remembering what Silver told him before he left the future.

"O…kay?" Tangle said. "I am not even going to try to make sense out of what you just said, and just say 'welcome back.'"

"Thanks, it's good to be back." Sonic said smiling to his friend. "How you feeling bud?"

"A lot better now…" Tails said.

"That's good. Get some rest bud, I will be here when you wake up." Sonic said, to which Tails complied. Sonic then looked to Tangle, and smiled.

"What's up?" Tangle asked.

"I just wanted to thank you, for worrying so much about him." Sonic said. "It means a lot."

"Oh, no problem! I would do it for any of my friends!" Tangle answered.

_'Yeah, friends… it's gonna be like that for a while, huh?' _Sonic thought, realizing that it was going to be about nine years until those two got together.

"Still, I really appreciate it." Sonic said. "I think I should go around and tell everyone else that I am alright though, think you can keep me updated on his condition?"

"Yeah, that's no problem at all!" Tangle said.

"Thanks, I'll be back later today!" Sonic said before speeding off.

Amy just smiled. "Good to have you back."

* * *

About three weeks later, Tangle was riding towards Tails' workshop on her bike.

"Wonder why Sonic wanted me of all people to go and check on Tails…" Tangle said to herself as she skid to a stop. "All he said was 'Hey, can you check and see how Tails is doing for me? I have something else I really need to look into right now.' and hung up!"

Little did she know, Sonic was nearby, hiding in a bush.

_'Phase one, get them alone and talking.' _Sonic thought as Tangle walked inside.

Sonic then watched happily as Tangle offered to help Tails with the repairs of the Cyclone, though he was worried that Tails was still beating himself over falling for a trap like that.

_'He has to give himself more credit, anyone would of fallen for something like that…' _He thought.

Eventually, the repairs were complete the two of them left, and began heading towards the testing range.

Before Sonic could follow them though, his communicator began to ring.

"Sonic here, what's up?"

"Sonic! We got trouble! Eggman is heading straight for Tails' workshop!" Amy said.

"He's WHAT?!" Sonic shouted.

"I think he's trying to off him while he's hurt! You have to get over there and help!" Amy explained.

"You got it, I'm nearby, so I'll be there before you know it!" Sonic said before hanging up.

_'Ok, that isn't good… should probably try and take care of it before anything happens.'_

And then there was an explosion nearby.

"…Nerts…"

And with that, Sonic sped off in the direction of the testing site.

When he arrived, he saw Tails on the ground, hand against his side as he was struggling to get up from the ground.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted as he sped towards the fox. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit bruised." Tails said. "Tangle shoved me out of the cyclone before Eggman attacked us, and now she's keeping him busy with it."

"Huh, had no idea she knew how to work that thing." Sonic said.

"She doesn't… she's just driving circles around him right now." Tails said as he gestured towards Tangle and a very irate Eggman.

"WOULD YOU JUST STAY STILL ALREADY?!" Eggman said.

Tangle, who seemed to have an idea, obliged. "Ok!"

"Huh… that was easy… WELL THEN! TIME TO DIE!" Eggman said before commanding his robot to strike.

Only for a rocket to hit the fist and stop the attack.

"Thank you Whisper!" Tangle shouted.

Sonic then looked in the direction that the rocket came from, to see Whisper giving them a small wave.

"I better go and help, you stay down, ok?" Sonic said.

"Yeah, you got it… just do me a favor would you?" Tails asked. "Tell Tangle how to use the missiles? I don't think driving in circles is gonna do her much good for too long."

"Yeah, you got it!" Sonic said before he sped off to join the fight.

After a couple of minutes of fighting, which was made easier by Amy and some others joining in, things took a turn for the worse.

"TANGLE!" Sonic shouted as the Cyclone got turned over.

_'Nononononono! I can't let her die!' _He thought as he began to speed towards her

Thankfully, Tangle was saved by something Sonic wasn't expecting.

Red chains, all coming from the ground, and wrapping around Eggman's robot.

The chains began to tighten, and eventually, Eggman abandoned the robot in his Egg Mobile just before it was destroyed from the pressure.

"I'll get you for this!" He shouted before flying away.

"What in the world…" Tangle said as she climbed out of the cyclone.

Sonic, who was helping her up, started to have a pretty good idea of what this was, and looked towards Tails, who was currently glowing red.

"Tails? Did you do that?" He asked.

"Yeah… I think I did…" Tails said.

"So… any idea of what that was?" Tangle asked.

"I… think that was Infinite's power…" Tails answered.

"What makes you think that?" Sonic asked, trying to sound as calm as he could.

"The explosion in Eggman's lab… it was probably filled with Phantom Ruby energy… and I was in the middle of it." Tails answered.

"So, you think your body absorbed it?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I think so…" Tails answered.

"Well, isn't that great!" Sonic said. "That's going to be really helpful in the future! We just gotta get you good with it is all!"

Tangle then noticed something wrong, Tails was looking really down.

"Remember what I said before Tails? What's with the sad face?" Tangle asked.

"It's just… this power… Infinite used it to…"

"So? Who cares what that Infinite guy used it to do? You are not Infinite! He may have used that power to cause some real damage, but I know that you're going to use it to help so many people!"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Sonic said. "So, here's what's gonna happen. We are gonna train hard when you are at 100% again! You are gonna get the hang of using this, and we are gonna use it to kick Eggman's butt!"

"I second that plan!" Tangle said.

"You are welcome to join us Tangle." Sonic said. "You did play a big role in helping us find out about this after all."

"Really? I might take you up on that!" Tangle said. "When we are done with you Tails, you will be even better at using this than Infinite was!"

Tails smiled at this. "Thank you… both of you!" He said as he pulled them into a hug.

"Don't mention it! Now, let's get to work on testing out this Cyclone!" Tangle said as she went to flip it back onto it's wheels.

"You do realize that it was working just fine during that fight… right?" Tails asked. "Are you sure you want to test it out, or do you just want to drive it some more?"

"…Ok, MAYBE I just want to drive it some more…" Tangle said embarrassingly as she and Whisper, who had just walked over, finished setting the Cyclone right.

"How about this, there are still some functions that need testing, like it's walker mode. So, I'll let you test them out, and then you stay the night." Tails said. "Then, in the morning, we get to work on building one for you!"

Tangle gasped at this. "REALLY?!"

"Of course! You were a lot of help today, so it's only right that I return the favor!" Tails said.

"You're the best Tails!" Tangle said before pulling the fox into a hug.

"Don't mention it. Come on, let's get to work!" Tails said. "You gonna join us Sonic?"

"In a bit, I'm gonna go grab us some chili dogs first, fighting Eggman always works up an appetite!" Sonic said.

_'That, and I want to give you two some time to talk…' _He thought.

"You two want one?" He asked.

"Sure!" Tangle said.

"I don't see why not." Tails said.

"Right, I'll be right back!" Sonic said before speeding off. "That didn't go quite as planned, but progress was made today!"

And so, he ran off into the distance, ready to celebrate a job well done.

**End of Post Game chapter 1**

* * *

**So, in the time that it wrote this chapter, I figured out exactly how many of these there will be… As of right now, a whole nine chapters. I might combine a couple of them though, and I might get ideas for some others so the final number may change. Also, I figured out a way to do this without being just repeats of the sub-chapters. There are plenty of untold stories left to tell after all!**

**Don't expect every chapter of the Post-Game to be too long. Some of them will, others will not.**

**Not really much to say here, so I will see you all next time for Chapter 2 of the Post Game!**


	21. PG 2: GUN

**Sorry about not posting yesterday, slept in before work, and I honestly forgot to do it when I got home. Will try and be better about this in the future :)**

**Post Game 2: G.U.N.**

**Three years after Sonic's return**

Sonic was taking the day to enjoy one of his favorite past-times.

Taking a nap.

Things were going well for the hedgehog since his little trip to the future. Tails and Tangle were getting along great, with Tangle joining in on training sessions. Speaking of, Tails was very eager to train with Sonic now that he had his illusions to master, and he was slowly starting to build up some strength and confidence.

They had just finished stopping one of Eggman's plans, so hopefully Silver's future was in good shape this time… hopefully.

Otherwise though, things were pretty normal, and Sonic was taking the time to enjoy the peace and quite.

"Faker…"

Until Shadow showed up that is.

"Oh, hey Shads!" Sonic said with a yawn as he got up from the ground.

"Rouge wanted me to get you for something, said it was important." Shadow explained.

"O…kay?" Sonic said, confused as to what was going on here.

"Let's go." Shadow said before he chaos controlled them out of there.

* * *

"Mmmmm. Pink was right, this place really does have great tea!" Rouge said as she took a sip of her tea. "I'll have to thank her the next time I see her." Rouge said.

The two girls were currently enjoying a nice cup of tea at a cafe that Amy had suggested to them, waiting for Shadow to show up with Sonic.

Eventually, a short flash of light signaled that they had arrived.

"I brought him." Shadow said, he then briefly glanced at Whisper to see that she was uncomfortable by his presence. "I'll leave you to it." He said before walking away.

"What was that about?" Sonic asked.

"Whisper here doesn't really like Shad too much. Don't know the details though." Rouge said. "May complicate things here a bit."

"I'm guessing this involves both of us?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, I have an offer for the two of you." Rouge explained.

_'Wait… is this…?'_

"So, the higher ups wanted me to ask the two of you if you would be interested in…"

"Nope, sorry, not joining G.U.N." Sonic said before taking a seat.

"Wow, you catch on quick." Rouge said.

"Quick is my thing, in case you've forgotten." Sonic said with a grin. "Seriously though, I appreciate the offer, but it's not something I'm interested in."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Rouge said. "What about you Whisper… I know you have issues with Shadow, but maybe we can work it out?"

"… I think I would like that…" Whisper said, though a little apprehensive about the whole thing.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be uncomfortable about the whole thing." Rouge said.

"Meeting and becoming friends with Tangle taught me that sometimes, stepping out of my comfort zone can be a good thing." Whisper explained. "I am willing to try and work things out if it helps the planet."

"That's good to hear, welcome aboard!" Rouge said as the two shook hands.

"You know, I was thinking Rouge." Sonic said. "While I may not be interested in the offer, I know another hedgehog that might just be perfect for it."

"Who? Silver?" Rouge said.

"You really think that's a good idea? He's not exactly 'around' too much." Sonic asked. "I was talking about Amy."

"Pink? Why her?" Rouge asked.

"You saw how she was able to keep the resistance organized, and how she pretty much led the restoration, especially through that Metal Virus thing, right?" Sonic asked. "If you ask me, she would be perfect for the role."

"Well then… after a recommendation like that from you of all people, I have to bring it up to the higher ups." Rouge said. "I'll talk to them later today, and if all goes well, I'll talk to her in a couple of days."

"I want to be there, she might need just a bit of convincing." Sonic said.

"You really want her to do this huh?" Rouge asked.

"I only want the best for my friends, that is all." Sonic responded.

"Well then, I'll see you soon! Whisper, I'll keep in touch." Rouge said before flying off.

"So Whisper… you never DID tell me that one joke about the toaster!" Sonic said as the two enjoyed a nice conversation.

* * *

**Three Days later**

Sonic was running towards Amy's house to meet up with Rouge. Apparently the higher ups were really easy to convince once they found out that Sonic recommended her, so now it all was up to Amy.

So, here he was, about to arrive at Amy's house, with Rouge waiting nearby.

"Took you long enough." Rouge said as Sonic skid to a stop.

"I was on another continent with Tails, the Tornado's fast, but not as fast as me on foot." Sonic explained.

"Fair enough. I'll talk to her first, but if you feel like you should jump in at any point, go right ahead. Just remember that this is HER choice." Rouge explained.

"Yeah, I know."

"Good."

And with that, Rouge knocked on the door, and went inside when Amy answered.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Amy asked.

"Well, I wanted to extend an offer to you." Rouge says. "We wanted to know if you would be interested in joining G.U.N."

"What? Really? What about The Restoration? We still have to fix up the damages every time that Eggman causes trouble you know." Amy asked.

"I talked to the higher ups about it, and they said that we could consider a merger. It would allow for The Restoration to get funding for their work a lot easier since they will be working for the military." Rouge explained.

"Ok… I guess that makes sense… but why me? Wouldn't you much rather have Sonic or Tails?" Amy asked.

"Tails is still too young to join, and as for Sonic…" Rouge started.

"I actually recommended you." Sonic said from the window.

"Sonic?!" Amy said in surprise. "You… really did that?"

"Yeah, you seemed perfect for the role. Don't think I didn't notice all of the work you've been putting in lately." Sonic said. "It's your choice of course, but I think you should do it."

"… Alright, I think I'll do it." Amy said with a smile. "Rouge made a great point about the funding, and since Sonic's recommending me, that just makes me want to do it even more."

"Glad to hear it! We can discuss the details in a couple of days." Rouge says as she extended her hand. "Welcome aboard!"

As the two of them shook hands, Sonic watched with a smile.

_'One down.'_

**End of Post Game Chapter 2**

* * *

**I mentioned this in the other story I started, but I am going to be updating my stories on a weekly basis on Saturdays until I feel ready to get the rest of the stories out. This is to make sure I have time to write and edit everything instead of just putting stuff up quickly as possible.**

**Anyways, I will see you all next time for… well, a surprise :)**


	22. PG: 3 Silver and Whisper

**Post Game 3: Silver and Whisper**

**Five Years after Sonic's return**

"You'll pay for this!" Eggman shouted as he flew away, his latest grand scheme finally stopped.

"Think he accepts rings or boots to the butt?" Sonic asked with a laugh.

"At this rate, probably both." Silver said, joining in on the laugh.

"So, you think this fixed up your future? What did you say it was?" Sonic asked.

"Giant robot owls taking over the world… and yeah, I think it did." Silver said, though he looked a little… down about it.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Sonic asked.

"I just… do you think this will ever end?" Silver asked. "I have come back and forth how many times now? Every time I think the future is safe, things just end up messed up again… sometimes even worse then the last time… Even when everything LOOKED really peaceful, that's all it was… it just, looked like it."

"You're starting to get frustrated then?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, just a bit…"

"Well… why don't you stay here?" Sonic asked. "I mean, if we do finally make the future a peaceful place, don't you think it would be… I dunno… depressing to stay there?"

"What do you mean?" Silver asked.

"Well, everyone you know is alive now, not in the future." Sonic explained. "Wouldn't you just want to be back here anyways?"

"I… didn't really think about that." Silver said. "I guess that would make sense though…"

"Seriously, if you ask me, I think we would all love having you around this time a lot more often, and not just for saving the world." Sonic said.

"… Alright, I think I'll give it a shot." Silver said.

"Great! How about we meet up with the others and tell them the good news." Sonic said.

"Just one problem though… where am I gonna live?" Silver asked.

"Hmmmm… well, I think I have an idea." Sonic said.

"And that is?" Silver asked.

"Well…."

* * *

**Later**

"NOPE! NOT DOING IT!" Silver said as he attempted to fly away.

"Come on dude!" Sonic said as he cut the time traveler off. "I am sure Whisper would love the company!"

"But… I barely know her! Do you honestly think she would be ok with me living with her?!" Silver asked.

"I would like that actually."

The new voice brought silence to the time traveler, as he turned around to get a look at the source.

"Oh, hey Whisper! You overhear us?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, I did." Whisper responded. "Silver, you are more than welcome to live here until you find a more… permanent, space."

"Uh… I… ok!" Silver said. "But… why?"

"What do you mean?" Whisper asked.

"I thought you liked living alone, you always seemed to prefer to stay to yourself." Silver said.

"Well, I have been trying to be more… outgoing lately." Whisper explained. "But more importantly, you and Sonic were the first people I considered friends since… well…"

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to." Silver said.

"Regardless, you were some of the first people I considered to be friends in a very long time… you're very important to me." Whisper explained.

Silver smiled at this. "Thanks Whisper… it means a lot to me to hear you say that."

"Well, I'll leave you two to it!" Sonic said.

"Oh please, why don't you stay for a bit?" Whisper asked. "Tangle and Jewel just gave me some wonderful tea, and I am sure you would enjoy it."

"Eh, sure. Why not?" Sonic said before they all went inside.

**End of Post Game Chapter 3**

* * *

**Sorry this one is so short. To make it up to you all, I will post the next one tomorrow. The next one is actually special, as it is what started the idea for the post game in the first place! It was actually at first gonna be it's own story, but then I got the idea for the post game and decided to include it here.**

**So, I will see you tomorrow for Post Game Chapter 4: Never Alone**


	23. PG 4: Never Alone

**Post Game 4: Never Alone**

* * *

**Central City**

It had been about seven years since Sonic's little trip to the future, and things were going well. He had been working hard to not only keep the world safe from Eggman, but to also set his friends on the path towards a happy future.

There were some things that could be better, but he was making progress.

"One day…" Sonic said to himself as he rounded a corner.

Right now, he was on his way to Tails' place to meet with him. The plan was to get some training in, and even get some practice with Tails' illusions. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get Tangle involved as well.

Speaking of, he was happy that they seemed to be getting along very well, but something was still bothering him.

"When exactly did Tails fall for her?" Sonic asked himself. "We are getting close to when they are supposed to get together… so it has to be soon…"

As it turns out, while Tails certainly was great friends with the lemur, and worked very well with her, he was far from developing romantic feelings for the girl.

"If this keeps up…" Sonic said grimly. He then pulled out the picture he took with Tails and his family in the future and just looked at it for a bit. He then shook his head as he steeled his resolve. "It will work out… it has to."

Eventually, he made it to his brother's place, though he was confused to see that the fox wasn't home.

"That's weird… maybe he's at his workshop?" Sonic said to himself. He then began to run in the direction of the workshop.

He was stopped short however when something caught his attention.

"Huh?" Sonic said as he slowed to a stop.

With the sound of the wind gone, he could clearly hear something coming from a nearby alley.

The sound of crying.

Deciding to investigate, Sonic made his way to the alley.

He did not expect what he saw.

"Tails?"

"Huh?"

Sure enough, the two tailed fox was currently crouched down and curled into a ball, crying to himself in the alley. When Sonic had said his name however, he quickly got up and began to run, only for Sonic to get in the way.

"Tails, are you alright? What's going on?" Sonic asked.

"I… I…" Tails said before he spun his namesakes to attempt to take off, only for Sonic to grab his leg.

"Tails please! I just want to help yo-" Sonic started before the unexpected happened.

**THWACK**

Sonic fell onto his back and put a hand up to his eye.

Tails just kicked him.

Outside of their sparing matches, Tails had never even thought of hurting Sonic. So this action caught both of them completely off guard, as the fox just looked at Sonic with horror.

Before Sonic could gather his bearings, Tails quickly flew off, out of sight.

"… What just happened?"

* * *

**Later, at Amy's house**

Cream was currently reading through a florist book while Amy was in the kitchen baking some cookies.

"Thanks for letting me come over Amy. It can be hard to get some peace and quite sometimes." Cream said as she turned the page.

"It's no problem Cream! You're always welcome here! And besides, I always like spending my days off with friends!" Amy said with a smile. She then turned to look at the oven. "I wonder if Sonic will like these…"

"I am sure he will. He has been warming up to you a lot lately, hasn't he?" Cream asked.

"Yeah. Soon enough, we will finally be dating! I can just picture it now. He will knock on the door and call my name, and say that he needs to talk to me, something important no doubt… and then…"

"Uh… Amy?"

"And then he will hold out a bouquet of flowers, just for me."

"Amy?"

"And he will finally confess his undying love for m-"

"AMY!"

"Huh what?" Amy asked, being pulled out of her trance.

"Someone's knocking on the door." Cream said as she pointed to the front door.

"Uh… Amy? You home? I need to talk to you!" Said a familiar voice from outside, causing Amy to gasp.

"SONIC?!" Amy shouted before rushing to the door.

"Wait!" Sonic said before she could swing the door open. "Is anyone else there?"

"Just Cream… why?" Amy asked.

"Ok… just need to warn you two… what you are about to see may be a bit… shocking." Sonic said.

"Oh come on, what's the worse that it could…" Amy said as she opened the door. "…Oh."

"Yeah… got a pack of ice I can put on this?" Sonic asked as he pointed to his black eye.

"Yeah, come in and sit down. I'll go get you one." Amy said as he led the hedgehog inside.

"Wow… how off guard did Eggman have to get you to give you that?" Cream asked.

"Uh… this wasn't Eggman." Sonic said as he sat down.

"Really? Then was it the Deadly Six?" Cream asked.

"No."

"Metal Sonic?"

"Nope."

"Starline?"

"Nada."

"Uh… Knuckles?"

"Cream… I will explain when AmyYYYYYYYYY" Sonic said as Amy, rather forcefully, placed the ice pack on Sonic's eye.

"Alright talk, who is getting a hammer to the face for doing this to you?" Amy asked.

"First of all, no-one is getting a hammer to the face." Sonic said. "And second… it was Tails."

"TAILS?!" Amy and Cream both shouted together.

"Yeah… I actually came here to talk about him." Sonic said.

"Ok, so are you two having a fight or something?" Amy asked.

"Not really, it was all really weird to be honest." Sonic explained.

"Ok, so what happened?" Cream asked.

"Well…" Sonic said before telling the two girls about his encounter with Tails.

"So, you went to see him at his house, but instead you found him crying in an alley?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. He gave me this when I grabbed him to try and find out what's up." Sonic said as he pointed at his eye.

"Well, that was your mistake." Cream said. "He was obviously in shock, and you grabbing him really didn't help. I probably would of done the same thing."

"Right… right." Sonic said. "Still, why was he crying like that? I'm just worried about him now…"

"Did anything happen recently?" Amy asked.

"Not really."

"Maybe this is the anniversary of something that happened." Cream suggested.

"If that was the case, then he would be like this every year, wouldn't he?" Sonic asked. "I don't remember him ever being like this…"

"Maybe you just never saw him when this happened." Cream said.

"That's… possible…" Sonic said, remembering how much he travels. "So… how do I fix this then?"

"Well, the first step would be to find him." Cream pointed out. "Then you should try and just sit down and talk to him."

"I agree, though he is clearly in great distress right now, so getting him to calm down, reassuring him, would be the first thing you should do before trying to get some answers."

"Gotcha… now, to figure out where he went…" Sonic said.

"Well, this is Tails we are talking about, so he would probably go and see someone he trusts a lot… besides you of course. Maybe to try and get some stuff off his chest." Amy deduced.

Sonic then went through his options, but then, something crossed his mind.

"I think I have an idea of where he went…"

* * *

**With Tails, slightly after his encounter with Sonic**

"Great… now Sonic's worried, and I hurt him…" Tails said as he flew out of the city. "I… I need to talk to someone about this…"

Tails then went through his options. His first thought was, of course, Sonic, but he didn't want to face his best friend right now.

He then thought of Amy, but he realized that Sonic would probably go there first, so that was out.

Cream was another option, but she was great friends with Amy, so she might just go to Amy for advice.

Knuckles really wouldn't be any help, neither would Rouge, or Shadow, or Whisper. As for Silver… well, he was improving, but he still wasn't that great at this kind of thing.

So, that left only one option.

Deciding on where to go, he flew off.

* * *

**Spiral Hill Village, Tangle's house**

"… I am so bored…" Tangle said as she turned off her TV. "I wonder what Sonic and Tails are up to… probably on some grand adventure to save the world… again."

At that moment, Tangle heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Tangle said as she got up to greet her guest.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Tails there.

"Oh, hey Tails! Was just thinking about you and Sonic!" Tangle said, but she realized that something was wrong when Tails winced at Sonic's name. "Uh… is everything alright?"

Tails just sighed. "Not really… is anyone else here? I don't want anyone listening in on us…"

"Nope, Jewel's at the museum, so it's just me right now." Tangle said. "Come in."

"Right… thanks."

Tails walked inside and took a seat on the couch.

"Here." Tangle said as she tossed him a bottle of water.

"Thanks." Tails said as he took a drink.

"So, what's up?" Tangle asked.

Tails sighed again. "I… kinda kicked Sonic in the face…"

"Oh, were you sparing or something?" Tangle asked.

"No we weren't… I wanted to just get away from him, but he grabbed my leg… so I just kinda… did it…" Tails explained.

"Really now… and why did you want to get away from him?" Tangle asked.

"He…" Tails started before sighing. "He found me crying in an alley."

"What?! Are you alright?!" Tangle asked as she put her hands on the foxes shoulders.

"Yeah, I'll be fine… it's just something that happens every year about this time." Tails explained.

"Ok, but why?" Tangle asked.

"… Today's the anniversary of when my parents abandoned me." Tails said with his eyes shut.

After a moment of silence, Tails felt something wrapping around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was not only Tangle's tail, but her arms as well.

"I… I'm so sorry." Tangle said, tears in her eyes. "I had no idea that you…"

"No-one knows about this… not even Sonic." Tails explained. "I didn't want anyone to pity me…"

"But still, having to deal with that trauma alone… it isn't easy…" Tangle said before rubbing her shoulder. "I should know…"

"You? How would you…?"

"I… was abandoned too." Tangle explained to Tails' surprise. "Don't know why. Maybe they couldn't handle having a kid, maybe they thought I was a freak with my tail… maybe they just didn't care."

"I'm… so sorry." Tails said.

"It's fine, I moved past it." Tangle said. "Mostly, at least…"

"Mostly?"

"Ever wonder why I am so claustrophobic?" Tangle asked, earning a nod in response. "Well, it's because I was shoved into a tiny box, it was sealed shut, had a couple of holes poked into it, and just left somewhere."

"That's terrible!" Tails said.

"You're telling me… I ended up passing out in that box and woke up here." Tangle explained. "Every time I am in a closed space now… it feels like I am back in that box…"

"I'm so sorry… I had no idea." Tails said.

"It's fine, the only one of us who knows is Jewel." Tangle responded. "Took me forever to tell her about it though."

"I can imagine… must of been tough." Tails said.

"It was…" Tangle said. "Listen, just know this. You are never alone, got it?"

"Yeah… thanks Tangle." Tails said as he pulled her into a hug.

"Don't mention it." Tangle said. "You can stay here as long as you want… but you should probably talk to Sonic about all of this at some point."

"… Right… I should probably do that." Tails mumbled out.

"… How bout this, you tell him your story, and I will tell him mine, deal?" Tangle asked.

"What? But…"

"It's fine, don't worry. Anything to help out a friend." Tangle said.

"Right… thanks a lot Tangle." Tails said.

"You try and relax a bit, I'll try and contact him…" Tangle said. "Uh… any idea where he is?"

"He probably went to Amy's place. Try calling her." Tails said.

"Gotcha, hang tight." Tangle said as she went to fetch her communicator.

_'… she really does care about all her friends… huh?' _Tails thought. _'She really should think bout herself sometimes though… she deserves it… wait, why am I thinking like this?!'_

At that moment, Tails' face turned a slight red.

* * *

**Later**

When Tangle heard a knock on the door, she walked over and opened it.

"Oh geez, Tails did that to you?" Tangle asked, immediately noticing Sonic's still black eye.

"Yeah, where is he?" Sonic asked.

Tangle just smiled. "Follow the tail."

It was then that Sonic noticed that her tail was stretched out, and leading into her living room. Following the tail, he found his best friend out cold on the couch.

"How long has he been like this?" Sonic asked.

"He fell asleep while I was talking to Amy." Tangle said.

"You were talking to Amy?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, she said that you were already on your way over here." Tangle answered.

"Ok… so what's with the tail?"

"He needed a hug, and I gave him one… he doesn't seem to want me to let go though…" Tangle said with a laugh.

It was then that Sonic noticed that Tails was hugging Tangle's tail, and using it as a pillow.

"Well, if that isn't one of the cutest things I have ever seen." Sonic said with a laugh. "… It's obvious that he's been losing a lot of sleep lately though…"

"Yeah, considering what he told me earlier, I wouldn't be surprised…" Tangle said.

"So… he told you why he was so upset?"

"Yeah, but it's not my place to say. He'll tell you when he wakes up." Tangle said.

"Right… thanks by the way." Sonic said. "It… hurt to see him so upset before… but I can already tell that talking to you really helped him out."

"Hey, like I always say, I would do anything to help my friends." Tangle said.

Sonic just smiled. "Truth be told, you are starting to become more like family at this point."

"You think so?" Tangle asked.

"Yeah, we have been hanging out a lot, and the fact that Tails was more comfortable about talking to you about all this than me, really shows it."

Tangle smiled at this. "A family huh?"

"What was that?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing, just thinking about some stuff. Also, if this is your way of asking me out, no thanks, not interested." She said with a laugh, which Sonic joined in on.

"Don't worry, I would never." Sonic responded.

"Anyways… uh…" Tangle said with a little strain in her voice

"… We should probably wake him up, huh?" Sonic said, noticing that Tangle was beginning to struggle to keep her tail stretched out.

"I would appreciate that, yeah."

Sonic walked over to Tails, and shook his shoulder. "Come on bud, time to wake up."

"…Sonic?" Tails said as he began to wake up. Upon opening his eyes, he immediately noticed Sonic's black eye. "Oh geez! Did I do that?!"

"Yeah, don't worry, it doesn't hurt." Sonic said. _'Much.'_

"I'm so sorry Sonic, I just, panicked and…"

"Tails, it's cool. Don't worry about it." Sonic said. "Though, you are going to have to explain why you were crying in an alley…"

"Right…" Tails said as he looked to Tangle for support, who responded by giving him a thumbs up. "So… where should I begin…"

* * *

After Tails finished his story, Sonic was in shock.

It turns out that Tails had been on his own for a couple of months before the two of them had met. Sonic also found out that Tails was bullied relentlessly before their first meeting, which is probably where his confidence issues came from.

He was even more surprised to hear Tangle's story. She always seemed to sure of herself, he would never think that she went through something like that.

"I'm so sorry you two…" Sonic said.

"Hey, you didn't know. It's not your fault." Tails said.

"Still…" Sonic said.

_'Why didn't either of them tell me about this in the future? Did they not want me to know?' _Sonic thought to himself. The then got up with a determined look on his face.

"Alright, I am treating you two. Chili Dogs anyone?"

"Sonic, you don't have to-" Tails said.

"I insist! Anything to help cheer up my family! Now come on!" Sonic said before walking towards the door.

"… A family?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, we are brother's, aren't we?" Sonic asked. "As for Tangle…"

"You know Sonic… I was thinking about that." Tangle said. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I think I already have a family." Tangle said, gesturing towards a picture nearby.

Sonic looked at it to see that it was of her, Jewel and Whisper.

"I get it." Sonic said. "Now come on! Chili dogs! On me! I always wanted to see how that Ron guy makes them!"

"Well, if you insist. How about we invite Jewel to come along?" Tangle asked as she followed. "We can eat at the museum."

"Sounds good! Let's go!" Sonic said as he led the two out of the building.

Some time later, the three of them, with the addition of Jewel, were eating their Chili Dogs at the Mineral Museum.

Sonic noticed something though, that Tails often took glances over at Tangle.

Figuring out what this meant, he decided to have a bit of fun.

"So, you and Tangle huh?" Sonic asked.

"Huh?!" Tails said, face turning red. "What are you-"

"Bro, it's cool. I think you two would be great together!" Sonic said with a laugh. "Just be sure to invite me to the wedding!"

"S-SONIC!" Tails said, as he began to chase Sonic, who was running out of the museum.

"… What was that about?" Jewel asked.

"You got me…" Tangle responded. "Hey Jewel?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being my family." Tangle said as she pulled the beetle into a hug.

"…No problem Tangle." Jewel said as she returned the gesture.

Meanwhile, as Sonic was running, he couldn't help but smile.

"Everything will work out. Just like I thought." Sonic said to himself.

**End of Post-game Chapter 4**

* * *

**Fun fact, this chapter is actually being written right after the Sonic Riders real time fan dub came out… you can tell how long I actually planned this for now… and it was freaking BRILLIANT! I highly recommend you watching that video if you haven't. Actually, the idea of Tails being pissed at Sonic, which I got from that video, is what inspired this chapter, which was actually at one point just gonna be a one shot story… of course, Tails wasn't exactly mad at Sonic here, but this kinda just evolved from that.**

**Tangle and Jewel's relationship really does remind me of Sonic and Tails, so I figured I would include the whole 'They are like a family' kind of thing in here.**

**Speaking of Family, it is a common motif in this chapter. Who knows, maybe their actual families will become important one day…**

**Also, I am sure there is a much different reason for Tangle's claustrophobia, but I thought this would be a good explanation.**

**Any who, I hope you all enjoyed this little explanation I had for how Tails fell for Tangle, cause I never did explain that before. Have a good one, and I will see you next time for Post Game Chapter 5: Together At Last :)**


	24. PG 5: Together At Last

**Post Game 5: Together At Last**

**Central City, Nine Years After Sonic's return**

Sonic and Tails were both relaxing in Tails' home in Central City.

"I'm telling you bro! You should just ask her out!" Sonic said.

"I… I can't just do that! Who knows what she would say!" Tails responded.

_'She would say yes…' _Sonic thought. "You're just being paranoid! Trust me, it will work out just fine!"

"You don't know that!"

_'Yes I do…' _

"Seriously, when did you get so stubborn?" Sonic asked. "Listen dude, after how cool you looked during that fight with Shadow, and with how you saved her, I would not at all be surprised if she fell for you."

"You don't know that for sure!" Tails said.

_'I do know that for sure…'_

"Listen, all I am saying is, you're better off saying something now than waiting and regretting it!" Sonic retorted.

"Oh come on! What's the worst that could happen?" Tails asked.

"I don't know… but isn't that her calling us now?" Sonic said as he pointed to the monitor in the other room.

"Really?!" Tails said a little too excitingly as Sonic chuckled a bit.

"You're always so excited to talk to her, you really do have it bad, huh?" Sonic teased.

"Oh shut up!" Tails said as he went to answer the call.

"Tails?! Thank goodness you picked up! I need help over here!" Tangle said through the communicator.

Sonic and Tails were both very worried now. Tangle never sounded so… panicked before.

"What's going on?!" Tails asked.

"Eggman! He's attacking my village! I don't know how long I can hold him off by myself! Get over here, quick!" Tangle said before the call got cut off.

"Let's get over there, and fast!" Sonic said, but Tails was already out of the room and prepping the tornado.

"What are you waiting for?! Let's go!" Tails shouted.

And with that, the two were off towards Spiral Hill Village.

* * *

After a short amount of time, the duo arrived at their destination, and they did not like what they saw.

"TANGLE!" Tails shouted as she was chucked into a nearby building.

Eggman, deciding to continue his assault, fired multiple missiles at the same building.

Deciding that they needed to do something, Sonic and Tails leapt into action, and got to work on stopping the missiles.

However, they were just barely not fast enough.

A single missile managed to get past them and collided with the building, almost completely destroying it.

"TANGLE!" Tails practically screamed as the building came down.

_'No… no no no!' _Sonic thought. _'I was so close!'_

"EGGMAN!" Sonic shouted as he charged at the machine.

As Sonic was fighting, Tails went into the building's rubble and began pulling some aside, trying to find Tangle.

Eventually, he found who he was looking for.

"Ugh… hey Tails… what took you so long?" Tangle groaned out.

"Thank goodness you're ok!" Tails said, before pulling her out from the rubble.

He then noticed that her tail was stretched out, and wrapped around something… despite it being in really rough shape.

"Please… tell me Jewel's alright…" Tangle said.

Tails didn't even realize that this was her museum.

Taking great care, Tails unwrapped the tail and got a good look at Jewel.

"She's a little banged up, but it's not that bad. You're in much worse shape…" Tails said.

"That's… good…" Tangle groaned out before passing out.

"Tangle? TANGLE?!" Tails said growing increasingly worried.

Meanwhile, Sonic had just finished destroying Eggman's robot and began rushing over to Tails.

"Tails! Is she alright?!" Sonic shouted.

"She's in really rough shape! We need to get her to a hospital right now!" Tails practically shouted.

"Right! I'll take her as fast as I can, you take Jewel!" Sonic said, just having noticed the beetle's presence.

Taking great care to not agitate the lemur's injuries, Sonic scooped her up, wrapped her tail around her arms so it wouldn't drag on the ground, and began to run.

* * *

**Later**

Tails had just arrived at the hospital, and the doctors had taken Jewel to get the treatment that she needed.

Deciding to leave them to it, he decided to find Sonic to see what's going on with Tangle.

"Hey." Sonic said when Tails walked up to him.

"Any news?" Tails asked.

"No, sorry." Sonic said.

"Oh… ok…" Tails said, looking down.

Sonic sighed. "Listen, you know as well as I do that Tangle is a fighter. She'll be fine, I'm sure of it."

"But… what if?"

"There are no what ifs here Tails. You need to have faith in her, just like she always has faith in us!" Sonic said. "Or, are all of those times that you told me how amazing she is just lies?"

"They weren't lies!" Tails said defensively. "I just… can't help but worry…"

"… and that's fine." Sonic said.

"…Do you remember what you said about telling her before I regret it?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm… starting to think that you were right about that…" Tails said. "It never really hit me until now but… what we do, fighting Eggman, saving the world, all of it… it's really dangerous, huh?"

"Yeah, it is. We've had a lot of close calls over the years, this is just the newest one." Sonic said.

"Yeah… so… I think I'm going to talk to her when she wakes up… see if we can make it work." Tails said.

Sonic smiled at this. "Whatever you want to do Tails… good luck."

Tails smiled back.

"Just know, I will be right here for you, no matter what happens." Sonic added.

"Right, thanks Sonic." Tails said before he pulled the hedgehog into a hug.

"I have faith in you little bro." Sonic said before getting up. "I should probably let Amy know what's happening here so she can get to work on rebuilding their village."

"Oh right, since Jewel's hurt, Amy should probably be informed of this." Tails said.

"Yeah, let me know if anything changes, ok?" Sonic said.

"You got it." Tails said.

And with that, Sonic sped off.

* * *

**Two days later**

Sonic and Amy were just walking out of Jewel's room and was on his way to Tangle's. The Beetle had woken up the day before, and Amy wanted to check on her, as well as keep her up to date on the restoration of Spiral Hill Village. Sonic was just checking on his friends.

"So what time do you think Tails got here?" Amy asked.

"He said he was coming here as soon as he woke up… and knowing him…" Sonic said.

"He was here right as visiting hours started, wasn't he?" Amy asked.

"Oh yeah." Sonic chuckled out.

"Geez, he really has it bad, doesn't he?" Amy asked.

Sonic just gave her a pointed look.

"…Ok yeah, I have it bad for you too." Amy said.

"That's better!"

"But seriously, I hope they get together soon…" Amy sighed out. "They both have had it really rough, and they deserve it…"

"Well, Tails DID say he was gonna try asking her out soon… let's just hope he goes through with it." Sonic said.

"Yeah, le- wait… is he talking to someone?" Amy asked suddenly.

The two had just arrived at Tangle's room, and peeked inside to see that Tails was talking to a very much awake Tangle.

"Oh thank goodness she's awake!" Amy whispered.

"Shhh, let's just listen for a bit!" Sonic whispered back.

"Seriously? Smart, beautiful and strong? If I didn't know better, I would think that you were trying to say that you had a crush on me!"

"Well maybe I am!" Tails suddenly said back.

As the room was filled with silence, Sonic couldn't help but fall back and sit down as he groaned at how much of an awkward confession that was.

"Oh… my… gosh!" Amy squealed. "He actually did it!"

"Gosh that was awkward though!" Sonic groaned out.

"Yeah, but that makes it even more cu- oh, she is SO flustered right now!" Amy said.

After another moment, Sonic was able to get up off the floor, and went over to watch the rest of the conversation. When Tangle went and gave Tails a kiss on the cheek he couldn't help but smile.

"I'm proud of you bro…"

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

"Well, don't you look nice!" Sonic said as he walked into Tails' home. "Got something special planned today?"

"Sonic… you know my date with Tangle is today…" Tails said with a blush on his face. "We were gonna do something casual, but Knuckles and Shadow are insisting on me taking her to this nice restaurant that Rouge got us a reservation at."

"Ohhhh… ok!" Sonic said. "Now, remember what I told you, the best part about the date…"

"Is the company, I know." Tails said.

"Great! You're ready!" Sonic said. "Go get em tiger!"

"Wish me luck!" Tails said.

"You don't need it, but good luck bud." Sonic said as Tails left. "Thanks for helping him out you two."

"Don't thank us yet… Rouge just wanted to spy on them." Shadow said.

"Oh…" Sonic said before smirking. "Can I come?"

* * *

"…This is boring…" Sonic said with a yawn.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted to come…" Amy said. "We are just making sure that everything goes well."

"That, and you wanted to 'watch their romance blossom' as you put it." Rouge said.

"Well, maybe the two of you could go treasure hunting together every now and then." Tails voice suddenly said through Rouge's radio. "You love adventure, and he is an expert at it, so it would be a great way for you to start replacing everything in the museum!"

_'So this is how they started doing that…' _Sonic thought.

"Huh… having a treasure hunting partner might not be a bad idea." Knuckles said. "Of course, I still gotta guard the Master Emerald though… but every now and then it might be a good idea."

"Heck, I bet you can get him to donate the Master Emerald to the museum! A gem that big oughta bring in quite the crowd." Tails said.

"Yeah! That's a great idea! Heck, I bet he wouldn't mind if I just went ahead and took it!"

"Well, looks like you won't have to worry about guarding it anymore Knux!" Sonic said with a laugh… but then he noticed the incredibly angry face Knuckles had, and knew that they were in trouble.

"WHAT?!" Knuckles practically screamed.

Everyone then looked at the Echidna with a look of shock and horror.

"… I just blew our cover didn't I?"

"Oh absolutely…"

* * *

After getting an earful from the couple, they were about to walk away from the group to finish their date when Sonic walked over to them.

"Hey, real sorry about that bud…"

"Don't be, I should of expected that kind of thing from you." Tails said.

"Still, it wasn't right that I joined in on that, so I'm sorry." Sonic said.

"It's fine." Tails said.

"Just go and have some fun with her, ok?" Sonic said. "But not too much, I'm not ready to be an Uncle just yet!"

Tails' face then turned beet red. "S-SONIC!"

"Later Tangle! Have fun!" Sonic said before speeding off.

While running away, Sonic watched as Tails lifted Tangle into the sky and onto a nearby rooftop, and saw that they were enjoying the sunset.

"Heh… they'll be just fine…" Sonic said.

Then he noticed that their faces were drifting towards each other.

"TOO SOON BRO!" Sonic shouted, causing the two to jump away from each other, faces red.

"SONIC!" Tails shouted back.

Sonic just laughed as he ran away.

* * *

**The Next Day**

"Wow, one date and she is already moving in, huh?" Sonic asked as he entered Tails' home. "I knew you were good, but not that good!"

"I-IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Said a very flustered Tails.

"It really isn't." Tangle said from the chair, as Jewel was changing the bandages on her foot.

"Their house is still wrecked from the fight with Eggman a couple of weeks ago, so I offered to let them stay here until it is fixed!" Tails explained.

"Really? I woulda thought that you would of had it fixed up by now." Sonic said.

"Well, I figured the two of us would be out of commission for a while, so I told Amy to have them fix up our houses last." Jewel said. "Restoration takes time Sonic, it doesn't get done over night, and that attack really caused a lot of damage."

"Right, right. Sorry." Sonic said. "And you know I just like to tease you, right Tails?"

"Right…" Tails said, slightly embarrassed by the hedgehog's antics.

"Anyways, I just wanted to check in on you, so I'll be on my way!" Sonic said. "Try not to have too much fun you two."

"S-SONIC!"

"WHOOP! BYE!" Sonic said before speeding out of there.

**End of Post Game Chapter 5**

**Not much to say here, I hope you enjoyed!**

**See you next time!**

* * *

**Outtake**

"EGGMAN!" Sonic shouted as he ran straight over to Eggman's robot.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Eggman laughed. "So, what are you gonna…"

"You get a time out mister!" Sonic said as he punched Eggman's robot with all his might.

And just like that, he was gone.

—

"Ugh… what happened?!" Eggman said as he looked around the dark room

Then, he heard something… he turned around, and sow a terrifying, green creature.

"…awww man…"

And it then blew up in his face.

—

"So uh… where did he go?" Tails asked.

"Sent him to Minecraft." Sonic said with a shrug as he walked away.

"…wat"

* * *

**SONIC CAN SEND PEOPLE TO MINECRAFT BOIIIIIIIS!**


	25. PG 6: Engagement

**Post Game 6: Engagement**

* * *

**Twelve Years After Sonic's return**

"I AM FREAKING OUT SONIC!" Tails shouted as Sonic entered the room.

"Uh… ok? What's wrong?" Sonic asked. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the fox or his home.

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?!" Tails shouted. "This may very well be the most important night of my life and I have no clue what in the world I am doing!"

"Uh… is this about your date with Tangle later?" Sonic asked.

Wait a minute…

"Wait, are you thinking of proposing tonight?" Sonic asked.

"Y… Yeah I am…" Tails said.

Sonic smiled at this.

"Well, can't say I expected this!" Sonic said. "But, nevertheless, I am really proud of you."

"Thanks Sonic…"

"Really man, what happened to that little fox that I found by Emerald Hill?" Sonic asked. "You grew up way too fast…"

"Hey, it's still me, right?" Tails asked.

"Right, right." Sonic said. "Ok, so you need a plan, right?

"Yeah, I do…" Tails said.

"Don't worry about a thing lil bro, I think I have a great idea!" Sonic said with a smirk.

* * *

"Well, you look… good…?" Tangle said, though unsure as to why Tails was sweating bullets.

"Oh! Uh, thanks! I wanted to look nice tonight!" Tails said.

"Riiiiight… so, shall we?" Tangle said as the two began walking away.

Dinner went… just about as well as one would expect, with Tails literally shaking the entire table with his nervous energy.

_'Ugh… this is not going well…' _Sonic said from his hiding spot… being a table across the room.

"Uh… you good dude?" Tangle asked.

"Yup! I am just fine! Never better!" Tails said, though he very clearly wasn't fine.

They somehow managed to get through the entire meal without a plate falling off the table, and made their way out of the restaurant.

Eventually, after a bit of walking, Tangle decided that she has had enough.

"Ok, what's up?" Tangle suddenly asked.

"W-what do you mean?" Tails asked.

"You're always nervous about our dates, but this is just ridiculous." Tangle said. "Like, I can actually feel your shaking right now…"

"Oh, uh sorry it's just…" Tails then sighed. "Just… follow me, ok?"

He than began to lead Tangle away.

Eventually, the two of them arrived at the destination.

"The tornado?" Tangle asked.

"Yeah, I thought a flight would be nice." Tails explained.

"Isn't flying at night dangerous though?" Tangle asked.

"Don't worry, I have some safety measures put in place." Tails said, he then looked over to a nearby bush to see Sonic there in position.

"Alright, if you say so…" Tangle said before hopping onto the plane's wing.

"Alright, here we go…" Tails said as he began to fly the plane.

Once the two were a good distance away, Sonic began to follow on the ground.

"Alright, we're flying. You can't expect me to believe that you were so nervous about a flight, can you?" Tangle asked.

"It's not that, don't worry. Just… give me a minute. It will all make sense soon." Tails said.

"…Alright?"

After a bit of flying, Tails finally was able to steel his resolve.

"So… you ready?" Tails asked.

"Uh… Sure?"

"Ok… here goes nothing…"

He then began to glow a familiar red, and a bright light lit up beneath them.

Suddenly, at great speed, something shot up into the sky. When Tangle's eyes adjusted to the light, she got a good look at what it was.

"Is that… Sonic?" Tangle asked. "Uh… why is he super?"

"Just watch." Tails said.

Super Sonic then proceeded to put on quite the impressive acrobatic routine in the air for the two of them, which seemed to include a stream of stardust following behind him.

"Ok… so this is breathtaking and all… but why is he doing this?" Tangle asked.

"Do you remember what today is?" Tails asked.

"Uh…"

"It's the three year anniversary of us getting together." Tails said with a laugh.

"Oh, is that really today? Sorry, I forgot.."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Tails said. "This day is special, so I wanted to do something special, and Sonic was more than happy to help."

"You do know that you don't have to go over the top like this for me…" Tangle said.

"Yeah, but it's more than that." Tails said. "I also… wanted to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?" Tangle said.

"For everything really… for sticking with me this whole time, through the good and the bad."

Sonic did a Zig zag in the air.

"For being such an amazing source of positivity to not just me but everyone else."

He did a loop.

"And finally, for just being you."

Tangle just smiled at this, then proceeded to wrap her tail around Tails, as Sonic slowed down to a halt.

"You're welcome Tails. Thank you for doing the same for me." Tangle said.

"Yeah… but… there is just one more thing I have to say…"

"And that is?"

"Look up."

Tangle complied, and she did not expect what she saw. A message, written out in stardust.

"Will you… marry… me?" Tangle read.

Tails could only describe the sight before him as the most flustered he has ever seen the lemur.

She then turned to the left to see a mechanical hand, holding an open box containing a ring.

"W-wow… ok! Uh, when did you get so smooth?" Tangle asked.

"I learned from the best!" Tails said with a smile.

"It was Sonic's idea you mean?" Tangle asked.

"… Yeah…"

"Well, I have to admit, he came up with a great idea… and it worked…" Tangle said.

"So…"

"Yes… I will."

At this point, the feeling of joy completely took over Tails, as he put the Tornado into autopilot and leapt out of the cockpit, and pulled Tangle into a hug before lifting her into the air with him.

"Wait, what about the…"

"Sonic can fly it." Tails said, as they watched the hedgehog fly into the cockpit and took over.

Sonic then looked back at watched the newly engaged couple, as Tails flew over to land. A tear rolled down his eye as he finally said the one thing he wanted to say for the past twelve years.

"Mission accomplished…"

* * *

**The next day**

"Tangle! I got your message! What's…" Amy said as she entered the room, before she noticed that she wasn't alone. "Oh, big girls only meeting… this must be really important if you are calling it."

"Yeah… It kinda is." Tangle said. "Something… happened last night."

"Oh don't TELL ME that Tails broke up with you!" Amy said rather annoyed. "If he did, he is getting a HUGE hammer to the face!"

"No! No he didn't!" Tangle said. "But uh… we aren't exactly… dating… any more…"

"Ok, so he didn't break up with you, but you aren't dating any more… ok, I'm stumped, what happened?" Jewel asked.

"Uh… well… you see… funny thing really!" Tangle said.

"Oh just spit it out already!" Rouge said. "Some of us have to get back to work!"

"He… uh… well… might of… proposed?" Tangle said apprehensively.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"He did WHAT?!" Whisper uncharacteristically shouted.

And now, Tangle was the victim of a bone crushing hug, courtesy of Amy.

"I! AM! SO! HAPPY! FOR! YOU!" Amy said as she began swinging the lemur around.

"Th-thanks Amy… please put me down?" Tangle asked.

Once the hedgehog complied, they began talking again.

"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting you two to be the first ones to tie the knot." Rouge said. "I thought he would be dancing around the topic for years before building up the courage to do that."

"You should give the guy more credit. He has become a lot more confident over the years." Tangle said.

"I wonder who helped with that." Jewel said smugly.

The girls all looked at Tangle for an answer.

"Geez, did I really have that much of an impact on him?" Tangle asked.

"Enough to make him want to marry you." Amy explained. "Speaking of, we have a wedding to plan now!"

"Uh right… there is just one thing I think we need to address first…" Tangle said.

"And that is?"

"Well…"

* * *

"No." Sonic said pointedly.

"But Sonic, if we wait too long…" Tails tried to explain.

"Listen, I know that you are worried that Eggman will interrupt the wedding, and I get that!" Sonic said. "But, this is a once in a lifetime event! We have to make it special! And having the wedding two days after the proposal is not the way to go."

"Still… how do we make sure that Eggman doesn't interrupt?" Tails asked.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Sonic said.

Tails just looked at the hedgehog.

"…Fine." Tails said. "I'll call Tangle and tell her we are gonna be putting time in to plan it out."

"Right, and I'll go and do what I have to do." Sonic said.

"Good luck. Let me know right away what happens so we can plan accordingly." Tails said.

"You got it." Sonic said before speeding off.

"Sonic, I really hope you know what you're doing here…"

* * *

**Eggman's base**

"Uh boss?" Orbot suddenly asked.

"Yes?" Eggman responded.

"Shouldn't you be… I don't know, planning?" Orbot asked. "You know what you saw last night, and I thought you would be taking the opportunity to plan an attack by now."

"Hmm… Well, I've been thinking about that." Eggman said.

"And…?" Orbot said.

"Patience. He will probably be here soon." Eggman said.

And then, an alarm began to sound.

"Right on cue." Eggman said before pushing a button. "All robots, stand down. This is a casual visit."

This action caught his assistants off guard. He did know who he is letting into his base, right?

Shortly after, the doors opened, and Sonic stepped into the room.

"Hey doc, good to see ya." Sonic said casually. "I assume you know what this is about?"

"That writing in the sky you did last night wasn't very subtle you know. That, and the fact that I picked up a massive amount of chaos emerald energy being put in use kinda gave it all away." Eggman explained.

"Right, so you already know about the wedding." Sonic said. "So, what do I have to do to get you to stay away from it."

"Oh? You mean I'm not invited? How cruel!" Eggman said with a laugh.

"I'm being serious here Eggman!" Sonic said.

"Alright alright, you really want to know?" Eggman asked. "Nothing at all."

"…What?" Everyone in the room collectively said.

"You heard me. I have no intention on interrupting the wedding." Eggman explained.

"Ok, no. I'm sorry, but there is no way you are telling the truth here." Sonic said.

"It is the truth." Eggman said. "I saw that future too you know."

Sonic just stood there in silence.

"And, I still remember what you said to me that day." Eggman continued. "I thought long and hard about it, and, as much as I hate to admit it, you were right."

Sonic finally realized what Eggman was talking about.

_"He's become more of a hero than I have ever been, and more of a genius than you ever will be."_

"When I accepted what you said as the truth, I didn't know what to feel." Eggman started. "But, last night, seeing all of that unfold, I finally figured it out."

"And that is?"

"I was proud." Eggman said. "I may have been his enemy, but I watched that little fox grow into the man he is today."

After some thought, Sonic realized that Eggman was right about that.

"So, I will not be interrupting the wedding. Not because I wish to be friendly with you or him, but out of respect for how much he has grown." Eggman said. "That being said, I will have a gift for him, so please come and pick it up when the day comes."

"Right… thank you Eggman." Sonic said.

"Don't thank me just yet. Just because I am leaving the wedding alone doesn't mean I am not planning something for other days! You better be ready." Eggman said. "Though it may take some time to get ready. And if a wedding WERE to happen before then, then good for them."

"Gotcha. We'll be ready!" Sonic said.

And with that, Sonic left.

"Sir, are you sure about this?" Orbot asked.

"More sure than I have been in my entire life."

**End of Post Game Chapter 6**

* * *

**And there is the proposal!**

**Sorry about not putting this up yesterday, I simply forgot to do it before I left for work.**

**Some may say that Eggman was a bit out of character at the end there. Honestly though, I feel like it is something he would do. Might just be me though.**

**This is the beginning of what is basically going to be the three part finale of this story… wow, this story is actually ending for real! Took me way too long to do that! The second part should be obvious, but the third part is gonna be a surprise. Since this IS a three parter, I am going to post all three chapters across the next three weeks. From Future to Past? Will still update next week though.**

**Anyways, I will see you all next time for Post Game Chapter 7: Mr. and Ms. Prower**


	26. PG 7: Mr and Ms Prower

**Post Game 7: Mr. and Ms. Prower**

Sonic sped around Emerald hill Zone, just enjoying himself.

It had been about a week since Sonic helped Tails with his proposal, and he was using the day to celebrate.

After all, he accomplished his mission! He had successfully managed to get everyone set on the path that he saw in the future, and all that was left to do was wait for Skye, and for Knuckles and Rouge's engagement.

Then, Sonic suddenly heard a scream.

"What?" Sonic said to himself as looked towards the noise, which appeared to be in a nearby forest.

Deciding to investigate, Sonic quickly changed his course and ran towards the screaming.

After a couple of minutes of searching, he finally found what he was looking for.

Two foxes, a male and a female, where currently trying to escape from a horde of badniks.

"Guess Eggman is planning to do something here… I really hope it does not involve the wedding…" Sonic said to himself.

Deciding that figuring out Eggman's plan could wait till later, he sprung into action.

"Hey, need a hand?" Sonic said as he skid to a stop in between the two foxes and the robots.

"Wait, your…!"

"Sonic the Hedgehog, professional speedster, and robot destroyer! At your service!" Sonic said. "You two get somewhere safe, I'll handle these guys."

"We appreciate it, thank you!" The male fox said before the two ran into the bushes.

Shortly after, Sonic had finished the job.

"You still here? It's safe now!" Sonic called over.

****The two foxes then emerged from their hiding spot.

"Thank you so much Sonic." The man said.

"No problem, it's what I do." Sonic responded. "Now, you should head home, Eggman might be planning something here."

"Oh no, those were just some robots that were left behind from the last time he was here." The woman said.

"We've been keeping an eye on them to make sure they don't cause trouble." The man explained.

"Oh, ok, that's good." Sonic said.

"That being said, would you like to join us for dinner tonight?" The woman offered. "We would like to thank you for helping us after all."

"Nah, I don't want to be a burden."

"You wouldn't be, I assure you." The woman said. "We have chili dogs too…"

"Say no more!" Sonic said excitingly. "Lead the way!"

And so, the group began to walk.

"What brings you here anyways?" The man asked.

"Just doing a little celebration run." Sonic said. "I finished a certain goal of mine recently, and I thought coming here for a run would be a good way to celebrate."

"Ah, congratulations!" The woman said.

"How long have you been working towards this?" The man asked.

"Just about twelve years now." Sonic said. "All I gotta do now is wait."

"Anyways, here we are." The man said.

When the got inside, Sonic noticed that the house was a good bit bigger than he was expecting. It was almost like it was meant to be for a family of three, yet there was only two of them.

"So uh… you have a son or daughter around here or something?" Sonic asked.

"We have a son, but he isn't around anymore…" The man said.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, he's still alive, we just haven't seen him in so long." The woman said.

"That… is something you should actually know though."

"Huh? You think I know your… son…" Sonic said, finally beginning to connect the dots.

The picture of his best friend on the table also helped with that.

"I think we should introduce ourselves." The man finally said. "We are Amadeus and Rosemary Prower."

"Thank you so much for watching over our son all this time."

Sonic just stood there in silence. He had actually found Tails' parents, the same parents who…

"You…" Sonic growled out. "You abandoned him…"

"Uh…"

"You… ABANDONED HIM!" Sonic said, raising his voice a bit.

"Listen, I know that it looks bad but…"

"Looks bad?! Do you have any idea what he went through because of what you did?!" Sonic asked. "He went through hell before I met him, he was bullied relentlessly for months before I made my way to this island! He was on his own, no parents to go home to, no shoulder to cry into. Nothing! He was traumatized for years because of this, and I didn't even find out until just a few years ago!"

"Please, just let us explain…" Rosemary said.

"Oh please, enlighten me." Sonic said, rather angrily.

"You see, the last time we saw our son was the night before Robotnik began attacking the island…"

* * *

**Many years ago**

"What do you mean we have to get out of here?" Rosemary asked.

"I don't know what exactly is going on, but there are airships heading towards the island." Amadeus explained. "They might be here for peaceful reasons, but I am not about to risk Miles' safety on a gamble like that."

"Alright. I'll grab Miles." Rosemary said before going up the stairs.

_You see, we were concerned that he wasn't going to be safe if we were to stay on the island, so we made plans to sneak off on one of my old boats. However…_

"They found us!" Rosemary whispered.

"Quick! This way!" Amadeus said as they began to run, the robots chasing after them.

Eventually, they found that they had no method of escape.

"What do we do?" Rosemary said.

"… You aren't going to like my answer…"

"Amadeus?"

"We hide him. Leave him here and lure them away. With luck, they will capture us and not find him." Amadeus explained.

"I… I'm not going to…!"

"If you want him to be safe, then we have no choice!" Amadeus said. "I don't want to do this either… but we have no choice right now."

"… Alright…"

Setting the young Miles into the bush, his mother began to whisper to him.

"We have to go away for a while now sweetie, but never forget how much we love you…"

"Do whatever you need to do to survive, we will find you as soon as we can." Amadeus added. "And if we can't, I just know that you will find someone who will care for you, and love you just as much as we did."

And with that, they left the sleeping fox behind.

* * *

"A couple of months later, you happened to free us in one of Eggman's bases. We didn't see Miles with you, so it must of been before you met." Amadeus explained.

"Actually, meeting Tails was one of the first things that I did on the island… so I must of freed you from the Death Egg…" Sonic explained. "Since he didn't go up there with me."

"Tails… that's right, everyone calls him that now…" Amadeus said. "And yes, we remember having to take an escape pod out of a space station, so that would probably be the case."

"Back to the topic at hand. If you didn't abandon him, why didn't you come find him?" Sonic asked. "You had to know where he was after he saved Station Square."

"Yes, well, the first thing we did was look for him, and we never did stop." Amadeus said. "And then we saw the report on what happened that day."

"We were so happy to see that he was alive and well." Rosemary added. "And we were about to make preparations to go see him… until…"

"Until…?"

"Do you remember the interview that the two of you did after that whole thing?" Amadeus asked.

"I think so…"

"He… called you his brother, and said that the time he spent with you was always a happy time." Rosemary said. "He said that you were the biggest inspiration in his life, the most important person in his life…"

"It was then that we realized two things." Amadeus said. "One, that he either forgot all about us, or he didn't care anymore. The second, was that we didn't have the heart to take all of that away from him."

"I… see…" Sonic said, at a loss for words.

Their story made sense. He did remember that Eggman had been on the island for quite some time before he got there, and he did remember that interview.

How could he forget the first time Tails called him his brother after all?

"Alright, I think I believe you…" Sonic said. "Sorry about snapping at you like that. Tails just means a lot to me is all."

"I can imagine, he is family to you, is he not?" Rosemary asked.

"Yeah, he is…" Sonic said.

'_I really hope this works out…'_

"Speaking of family, there is something you should know though." Sonic said.

"And that is…?"

"The reason I was going for that run."

* * *

**Later, At Spiral Hill Village**

Word was beginning to spread about Tangle's recent engagement, and the villagers were all congratulating her.

"Whatever happened to that young lemur that would crash through my window on a weekly basis?" One man said.

"She got a lot better at using her tail to get around." Tangle said with a laugh.

"What about the one that would crash into my chili dog stand every couple of days?"

"I still do that Ron…" Tangle groaned out.

"Oh yeah." Ron said with a laugh.

"We all owe you a lot Tangle." The mayor of the village suddenly said. "And while we are sad that you will be leaving us soon, we wish you nothing but the best in your life."

Tangle smiled at this. "Thank you, mayor."

"Just remember, you are always welcome in our village." The mayor said. "You are like family after all!"

"T-thank you…" Tangle said.

But then she noticed something, two unfamiliar faces watching from a distance.

"What the…?"

"Tangle?" Jewel asked.

"Jewel, do me a favor and go get some tea ready… I think we are gonna have some guests." Tangle suddenly said.

"Oh… ok?" Jewel said.

"Sorry mayor, but there is something that needs my attention." Tangle said before walking away.

Eventually, she made her way over to the two newcomers.

"Alright, who are you?" Tangle asked.

"Amadeus and Rosemary Prower… I guess we are about to be your in-laws…" Amadeus said.

"…You have a LOT of explaining to do Sonic…" Tangle said, as the hedgehog failed to sneak up behind her.

"Right, let's get somewhere private first." Sonic said.

* * *

**Later, Tangle's house**

"I… see…" Tangle said. "I'm gonna be honest with you. While I believe you… I don't think I can forgive you…"

"But Tangle…"

"Let me talk Sonic." Tangle interrupted. "I want to forgive you, I really do… but you have to realize that your son is really important to me, and you caused him more pain in his life than Eggman ever could. So, I'm sorry, but I can't forgive you."

"… I understand." Amadeus said. "We just wanted to give you our regards and congratulations on the wedding… if you so wish, we could be on our way."

"I still want you to be there though." Tangle suddenly said, to everyone's shock.

"Wait, what?" Sonic asked.

"Like I said, Tails is really important to me. So, if it will make him happy, I would want you to be at the wedding." Tangle said. "And I know that it would make him happy."

"What makes you think that?" Sonic asked.

"Cause, believe it or not, we have talked about you two quite a bit…" Tangle said. "He once told me, that he would love to see you again, and really find out what happened that day."

Amadeus and Rosemary smiled at this.

"I see… then we will see you then." Amadeus said.

"Sonic will give you the details when they are set in stone." Tangle said. "You caused this, so you are responsible for it."

"Yes ma'am!" Sonic said.

"Alright…" Tangle said before taking a sip of her tea.

The rest of the day was spent allowing the Prowers to get to know more about Tangle.

Sonic couldn't help but smile, thinking about what was to come.

**End of Post Game Chapter 7**

* * *

**What? You thought that Mr. and Ms. Prower was gonna be about Tails and Tangle?! Oops, sorry I mislead you! When I said the second part of this three parter was obvious, I meant the third part!**

**Speaking of, see you next time for the grand finale! Post Game Chapter 8: Union**


End file.
